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Albert  Einstein,  Scientist 


February 

In  this  issue:  f^^Z^ 

_       _  .  Improvement 

The  Convergence  of 

Science  &  Religion    

"Einstein  had  to  have  the  kind  of  dogged  conviction 
;  that  could  have  allowed  him  to  say  with  Job,  'Though 
I  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him.' "         See  page  62. 


; 


Ji\  * 


Job,  Man  of  F^ifth 


/ 


k 


Quality  study 
beyond  the  bachelors 
degree  at  BYU-the 
student*  centered 
graduate  school* 


Write  to  the  Dean  of  the  Graduate  School,  Brigham  Young  University,  Provo,  Utah,  for  any  of 
the  following  information:  ■  1968-1969  Graduate  School  Catalog  of  courses,  requirements  ■ 
Application  for  admission  (new  students  only)  ■  Deadline  is  July  31  ■  Application  for  readmission 
■  Deadline  is  July  31  ■  Graduate  scholarship  and  fellowships  (3.5  GPA  needed)  Applications 
Due  Mar.  1  ■  Information  on  single  or  family  housing. 


More  than  2,500  students  are 
pursuing  graduate  degrees  at  BYU, 
and  last  year  master's  and  doctor's 
degrees  were  awarded  to  521  in  46 
departments  of  this  highly  successful 
Graduate  School.  The  Graduate 
Faculty,  whose  members  command 
national  and  international 
reputations,  devote  personal 
attention  to  students  in  the  interest 
of  their  professional  careers. 

Doctoral  degrees  are  now  offered 
in  18  academic  departments: 

Bacteriology 

Chemistry 

Engineering 

French  and  Italian 

Geology 

Graduate  Education 

History 

Music 

Psychology 

Speech  and  Dramatic  Arts 

Botany 

Child  Development  and 

Family  Relationships 

Germanic,  Slavic  Languages 

Graduate  Studies  in 

Religious  Instruction 

Physics 

Spanish  and  Portuguese 

Zoology  and  Entomology 

Sociology  and  Anthropology 

Brigham  Young 


University 


Provo,  Utah 


Cover  Note: 

Physicist  Albert  Einstein  and  the  Old 
Testament  prophet  Job  have  become 
well-recognized  symbols  of  men  who 
were  deeply  concerned  with  life  and 
who  probed  its  meaning,  each  ulti- 
mately finding  in  his  search  a  lasting 
faith  in  God's  goodness. 

The  search  for  truth  by  men  of  sci- 
ence and  religion  is  lucidly  described  in 
"The  Convergence  of  Science  and  Re- 
ligion" on  page  62  by  Nobel  Prize- 
winning  physicist  Charles  H.  Townes. 
Dr.  Townes  is  not  a  Latter-day  Saint,  but 
his  thoughts  on  the  subject  will  be  of 
great  interest  to  members  of  the 
Church. 

Our  cover  is  related  to  Dr.  Townes' 
article.  The  portraits  of  Einstein  and 
Job  are  by  Salt  Lake  artist  Dale  Kil- 
bourn,  whose  artwork  has  become 
familiar  to  Latter-day  Saints  through 
the  "Be  Honest  With  Yourself"  series 
and  the  "Signs  of  the  True  Church" 
series.  He  painted  some  of  the  posters 
in  each  series.  Some  of  the  murals  in 
the  Arizona  Temple  Bureau  of  Informa- 
tion at  Mesa  are  also  by  him. 

Perhaps  readers  will  be  interested  to 
know  that,  due  to  conditions  associated 
with  selecting  a  suitable  cover,  the 
artist  could  not  be  given  his  assignment 
until  late  one  afternoon  just  two  days 
before  it  was  needed  for  press  dead- 
lines. He  returned  two  days  later 
with  his  portraits  of  Einstein  and  Job. 
We  hope  readers  will  enjoy  his  interpre- 
tation of  the  thought-lined  face  of 
Einstein  and  the  wise,  serene  face 
of  Job. 


Official  organ  of  the  Priesthood  Quorums.  Mutual  Improvement  Associations 
Home  Teaching  Committee,  Music  Committee,  Church  School  System,  and 
other  agencies  of  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints. 

The  Improvement  Era,  79  South  State,  Salt  Lake  City.  Utah  84111 


February  1968 


The  Voice  of  the  Church 

February  1968 


Volume  71,  Number  2 


Special  Features 

2       Editor's  Page:    Sermons  in  a  Sentence  or  Two,  President  David  0. 
McKay 

14       A  New  Look  at  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price:  Part  1,  Challenge  and  Re- 
sponse (continued),  Dr.  Hugh  Nibley 

26       The  Hurricane  and  Olataga  of  Samoa,  Coy  Harmon 

28       Where  Does  All  the  Money  Go?  Dr.  Quinn  G.  McKay 

40       Colored  photographs  of  Egyptian  Papyri 

62       The  Convergence  of  Science  and  Religion,  Charles  H.  Townes 

Regular  Features 

10       Teaching:   Contact!  Nicholas  Van  Alfen 

22       Genealogy:   Major  Genealogical  Record  Sources  in  Sweden 

25       Lest  We  Forget:    The  Word  of  Wisdom,  Albert  L.  Zobell,  Jr. 

49       The  Presiding  Bishopric's  Page:  The  Presiding  Bishop  Talks  to  Youth 
About  Respect,  Bishop  John  H.  Vandenberg 

51       The  Era  Asks  About  Genealogy  in  the  Church  Today 

58       Today's  Family:    Do  Your  Best  at  the  Moment — Then  Stand  Relaxed, 

Florence  B.  Pinnock 

60  Home,  Sweet  Home 

72  The  LDS  Scene 

74  The  Church  Moves  On 

76  Buffs  and  Rebuffs 

78  These  Times:   The  State  of  Morals,  G.  Homer  Durham 

80  End  of  an  Era 

53,  70,  71,  74       The  Spoken  Word,  Richard  L  Evans 

Era  of  Youth 

33-48       Marion  D.  Hanks  and  Elaine  Cannon,  Editors 


Fiction,  Poetry 


4       Journey  at  Dawn,  Eugene  A.  Hooper,  Jr. 
10,  68,  70,  75,  80       Poetry 


David  O.  McKay  and  Richard  L.  Evans,  Editors;  Doyle  L.  Green.  Managing  Editor;  Albert  L  Zobell,  Jr.,  Research  Editor;  Mabel  Jones  Gabbott,  Jay  M.  Todd. 
Eleanor  Knowles,  William  T.  Sykes,  Editorial  Associates;  Florence  B.  Pinnock,  Today's  Family  Editor;  Marion  D,  Hanks,  Era  of  Youth  Editor;  Elaine  Cannon, 
Era  of  Youth  Associate  Editor;  Ralph  Reynolds,  Art  Director;  Norman  F,  Price,  Staff  Artist. 

G.   Homer  Durham,   Franklin  S.   Harris.  Jr.,   Hugh   Nibley,   Sidney  B.  Sperry,   Albert  L.  Payne,  Contributing  Editors. 

G.  Carlos  Smith,  Jr.,  General  Manager;  Florence  S.  Jacobsen,  Associate  General    Manager;   Verl   F.   Scott.    Business    Manager;   A,    Glen   Snarr,    Acting    Business 

Manager   and  Subscription    Director;   Thayer  Evans,    S.    Glenn   Smith.    Advertising  Representatives. 

O  General  Superintendent,  Young  Men's  Mutual  Improvement  Association  of  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints.    1968,  and    published    by  the 

Mutual  Improvement  Associations  of  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day   Saints.   All    rights   reserved.   Subscription    price,    $3.00   a   year,    in    advance; 

multiple  subscriptions,  2  years,  $5.75;  3  years,  $8.25;  each  succeeding  year.    $2.50    a    year   added   to    the    three-year    price;    35E    single    copy,    except  for 

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The  rmpravement  Era  js  not  responsible  for  unsolicited  manuscripts  but  welcomes   contributions.    Manuscripts    are    paid   for  on    acceptance    and    must    be 

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Thirty  days'  notice  is  required  for  change  of  address.  When  ordering  a  change,   please  include  address  slip  from  a  recent  issue  of  the   magazine.    Address 

changes  cannot  be  made  unless  the  old  address  as  well  as  the  new  one  is  included. 


The  Editor's  Page 


By  President  David  O.  McKay 


Sermons  in  a 
Sentence  or  Two 


•  If  you  would  obtain  the  highest  success  and  the 
most  contentment  of  mind,  practice  in  your  daily 
contacts  the  ideals  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 


Whatever  you  have  chosen  as  your  profession,  do 
your  best  to  excel. 


The  thing  that  a  man  really  believes  in  his  heart  is 
the  thing  that  he  really  thinks.  What  he  actually 
thinks  is  the  thing  he  lives. 


It  is  true  that  self-preservation  is  the  first  law  of 
nature,  but  it  is  not  a  law  of  spiritual  growth.  He 
who  lets  selfishness  and  his  passions  rule  him 
binds  his  soul  in  slavery,  but  he  who,  in  the  majesty 
of  spiritual  strength,  uses  his  physical  tendencies 
and  yearnings  and  his  possessions  to  serve  purposes 
higher  than  personal  indulgence  and  comfort  takes 
the  first  step  toward  the  happy  and  useful  life. 


Men  do  not  go  beyond  their  ideals.  They  often  fall 
short  of  them,  but  they  never  go  beyond  them. 


With  all  my  heart,  I  say  to  you  that  usefulness, 
pleasure,  joy,  and  happiness  in  this  life  come  by 
following  Christ's  admonition  of  seeking  first  his 
kingdom. 


When  the  people  who  call  themselves  Christian 
militantly  enlist  under  the  leadership  of  the  one  to 
whom  they  refer  as  King  of  the  world;  when  they 
accept  as  facts  and  not  as  theories  his  moral  and 
spiritual  teachings;  when  for  selfishness  they  substi- 
tute kindness  and  thoughtfulness  toward  others; 
when  they  aggressively  defend  the  principles  of  true 
liberty,  then  may  we  begin  to  realize  the  hope  that 
wrong  may  be  abolished,  righteousness  may  be  en- 
throned in  human  hearts,  and  honest  relations  may 
become  the  daily  practice  of  society.  Then,  and  not 
until  then,  will  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  become 
the  kingdom  of  our  God. 


Truly,  the  time  has  come,  as  perhaps  never  before, 
when  men  should  counsel  together  and  in  wisdom 
determine  how  the  world  may  be  made  a  better 
place  in  which  to  live. 


An  active,  sincere  faith  in  the  basic  teachings  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  the  greatest  need  of  the  world. 
Because  many  reject  this  truth  is  all  the  more  reason 
why  sincere  believers  should  proclaim  it. 


Man  needs  a  rededication  to  the  principles  of  un- 
selfishness. No  peace  or  freedom  can  come  to  the 
world  as  long  as  men  live  only  for  themselves. 


Obedience  to  Christ  and  his  laws  brings  life  and 
life  eternal. 


We  cannot  truly  believe  that  we  are  the  children 
of  God  and  that  God  exists  without  our  also  believ- 
ing in  the  final  inevitable  triumph  of  truth  expressed 
in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 


Improvement  Era 


If  you  will  live  in  accordance  with  the  humble 
principles  under  the  covenants  you  made  at  the 
water's  edge,  and  since  that  time  that  you  have  made 
in  sacrament  meetings,  and  that  many  of  you  have 
made  in  the  House  of  God,  you  will  fill  a  noble 
mission,  and  God  will  reward  you. 


The  mission  of  the  Church  is  to  proclaim  the  truth 
of  the  restored  gospel,  to  uplift  society  that  people 
may  mingle  more  amicably  one  with  another,  and  to 
create  in  our  communities  a  wholesome  environment 
in  which  our  children  may  find  strength  to  resist 
temptation,  and  encouragement  to  strive  for  cultural 
and  spiritual  attainment. 


The  restored  gospel  is  a  rational  philosophy  that 
teaches  men  how  to  get  happiness  in  this  life  and 
in  the  life  to  come. 


God  help  us  to  be  true  to  our  responsibilities  and 
to  our  callings,  and  especially  to  the  responsibility  we 
bear  as  fathers  and  mothers  of  the  children  of  Zion 
—heaven's  treasures  given  to  us. 


One  never  develops  character  by  yielding  to  wrong. 
Strength  comes  by  resisting! 


Nature's  law  is  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  God's  law 
is:  Use  your  personal  power  and  possessions  for  the 
advancement  and  happiness  of  others. 


To  members  of  the  restored  Church,  marriage  is  a 
divine  ordinance  and,  when  directed  by  intelligent 


parenthood,  the  surest  and  safest  means  for  the 
improvement  of  mankind.  Marriage  is  not  a  cere- 
mony to  be  entered  into  lightly,  to  be  terminated  at 
pleasure,  nor  a  union  to  be  dissolved  at  the  first 
difficulty  that  might  arise. 


The  ability  to  preserve  the  home  in  its  purity  and 
usefulness  is  found  in  The  Church  of  jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints. 

God  should  be  the  center  of  our  lives  and  the  lives 
of  all  in  the  world. 


The  Mormon  pioneers  did  not  regard  drama  and 
the  theater  as  merely  a  mode  of  amusement.  They 
found  it  as  a  means  of  entering  into  and  sharing  the 
impulses  of  the  mind  and  feelings,  and  thereby 
establishing  in  the  wilderness  a  spiritual  oasis  where 
the  minds  and  souls  of  men  could  be  refreshed, 
where  men  could  lose  the  sense  of  isolation  and 
loneliness  and  return  to  their  tasks  refreshed  and 
with  a  renewed  conviction  of  solidarity. 


No  outward  environment  alone  can  produce  man- 
hood. The  virtues  of  life  spring  from  within. 


Right  thoughts  and   feelings,   if  consistently  kept 
in  the  foreground,  inevitably  lead  to  right  acts. 


The  handsomest  youth  and  the  most  beautiful 
maiden  may  mar  their  beauty  by  a  morose,  cross- 
tempered  disposition  or  by  nursing  dissatisfaction 
in  the  soul.  O 


February  1968 


Improvement  Era 


TOURNEY 
J#fDAWN 


•  Kaarlo  Maki  pulled  the  thick  fur  collar  of  his 
coat  tighter  about  his  throat  and  tucked  the  edge 
of  his  black  woolen  scarf  under  his  fur  hat.  It 
was  bitter  cold,  too  cold  to  be  riding  a  bicycle  and 
too  cold  for  an  old  man  to  be  away  from  his  stove 
and  hot  cereal.  His  breath  froze  in  ice  crystals 
on  his  moustache  and  fur  collar  and  made  the  tiny 
red  blood  vessels  zigzag  brightly  through  his 
leathery  cheeks.  Stubbornly,  his  old  legs  pushed 
the  pedals  around,  and  the  tires  crunched  the 
snowy  crust  on  the  ice. 

He  could  have  waited  until  the  noon  train,  but 
the  morning  milk  train  would  get  him  there 
faster.  He  heard  the  whistle  off  in  the  distance 
and  knew  that  the  train  was  approaching  the 
paper  factory.  The  tall  smokestack  of  the  factory 
was  becoming  visible  in  the  early  morning  light 
of  the  Finnish  February.  Its  column  of  white 
smoke  rose  a  few  yards  above  the  stack  and  then 
bent  itself  flat  to  follow  the  wind  to  the  south 
horizon,  making  a  white  stream  in  the  cold, 
gray  sky. 

Kaarlo  was  puffing.  The  coat  and  two  sweaters 
held  the  warmth  of  his  old  body  in  and  caused  him 
to  perspire,  but  he  dared  not  loosen  his  collar 
in  the  cold. 

He  approached  the  ancient  wooden  station  and 
pedaled  up  to  the  bicycle  rack  at  the  front  porch. 
There  were  already  several  bicycles  locked  in  the 
rack.  Some  of  them  were  bent  and  rusty,  but 
all  had  the  same  layer  of  frost  crystals  on  the 
handlebars  and  spokes.  Kaarlo's  bicycle  fit  easily 
at  the  end  of  the  rack,  and  he  was  glad  to  climb 
off  and  lock  it.  The  spring  clamp  snapped  shut 
when  he  pulled  his  leather  satchel  from  the  rear 
fender.  The  ice  crystals  that  stood  straight  out 
on  the  brass  lock  of  the  bag  turned  into  drops 
of  water  when  he  entered  the  warm  station.  He 
wiped  water  drops  from  his  moustache  and 
loosened  his  collar  and  scarf. 

The  ticket  agent,  in  a  blue  uniform,  smiled  at 
Kaarlo.  Kaarlo  did  not  smile  back  but  soberly  laid 
three  one-mark  bills  on  the  tray. 

"You  look  tired  this  morning,  Kaarlo,"  the  ticket 
agent  offered  in  sympathetic  concern. 

Kaarlo  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  felt  the 
weight  of  his  years  crowd  his  strength.    "I  am  an 


By  Eugene  A.  Hooper,  Jr. 

Eugene  A.  Hooper,  Jr.,  a  film  splicer  and  shipper  in  the 
Church's  Genealogical  Society,  is  a  former  missionary  to  Fin- 
land and  wrote  "Journey  at  Dawn"  to  examine  how  through 
the  gospel  one  may  find  answers  to  personal  dilemmas. 


old  man,"  he  said.    "Too  old  to  lose  my  son." 

The  ticket  agent  was  startled.  "Has  some- 
thing happened  to  Matti?" 

Kaarlo  bowed  his  head  in  humiliation  as  he 
muttered,  "Something  terrible.  He  says  he  will 
become  a  Mormon!" 

"It  cannot  be  true!  Matti  knows  better.  What 
is  he  thinking?" 

"I  do  not  know,"  Kaarlo  said,  his  voice  shaking 
with  indignation.  "This  is  why  I  must  go  to  him. 
I  must  stop  him  before  he  throws  his  life  away 
and  shames  his  family." 

Kaarlo  picked  up  his  ticket  and  slowly  walked 
out  to  the  waiting  train.  His  heart  was  heavy  as 
he  climbed  the  steps  to  the  coach  and  found  a 
seat  at  the  end  of  the  car.  The  straight  wooden 
back  of  the  seat  exercised  its  discipline,  and  the 
old  man  braced  himself,  with  his  hands  clutching 
the  front  edge  of  the  seat.  The  jerking  motion 
of  the  train  rocked  Kaarlo  from  side  to  side,  and 
with  each  sway  his  son's  name  moved  his  tongue. 
His  old  mind  was  bewildered  and  tired.  The  ques- 
tions rocked  him  almost  as  hard  as  the  train.  "Why 
do  you  do  this  to  me  ?  Who  do  you  love  more  than 
your  old  papa?" 

The  bleak  loneliness  of  the  Finnish  winter  land- 
scape reflected  no  sympathy  or  feeling  of  kindness 
outside  the  dimly  lit  train.  Occasionally  a  small 
farmhouse  would  break  the  cold  scene.  Kaarlo 
began  to  talk  to  himself  in  a  quiet  mumble.  "I  am 
like  one  of  those  farmhouses,  alone  in  a  cold  world, 
and  my  son  is  like  this  train,  puffing  ahead  on  his 
own  steam  and  passing  me  by.  He  will  forget  me 
and  become  trapped  by  that  new  religion." 

Tears  weakened  his  proud  old  face  as  he 
thought  of  Helmi.  Surely,  if  she  were  still  alive, 
Matti  would  not  deliberately  shame  her.  Better 
for  her  to  be  dead  than  grieved  by  her  son. 
Kaarlo's  back  hurt  against  the  wooden  bench.  He 
was  chilly  and  hungry  and  should  not  have  left  his 
cottage  without  eating  something.  Perhaps  he 
would  buy  a  bowl  of  broth  when  he  arrived  in 
Oulu. 

He  looked  at  the  other  passengers  in  the  coach 
and  wondered  if  they  bore  a  grief  such  as  his. 
Here  in  Finland,  he  thought,  the  people  should  be 
free  from  strange  and  harmful  ideas  of  religion. 


February  1968 


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lit 


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liiip 


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Illustrated  by  Dale  Kilbourn 


The  forests  and  lakes  were  close  on  every  hand, 
and  man  had  but  to  tend  his  fields  and  gather  his 
family  to  him  at  evening  time. 

"Matti,  my  son,"  he  murmured.  "Come  back 
here  to  Kemi  and  to  your  papa.  You  can  sell  your 
tools  here." 

The  train  was  coming  to  a  halt  at  the  Oulu 
station.  Kaarlo  watched  the  freight  rails  clip  by, 
and  then  he  was  looking  down  at  the  faces  on  the 
platform.  The  train  groaned  and  squealed  as  the 
cold  steel  of  tracks  and  wheels  fought  each  other 
to  a  stop.  He  pulled  himself  to  his  feet  and 
limped  toward  the  door.  A  few  people  hurried 
through  the  car,  squeezing  past  him,  and  he  felt 
the  cold  escaping  from  them. 
helped  him  climb  off  the  train,  and  as  he  stepped 
onto  the  deserted  platform,  the  icy  wind  grabbed 
at  his  face  like  a  claw  and  stung  until  he  was  in 
the  station  house.  He  stood  for  a  few  minutes 
staring  across  the  waiting  room.  The  clock  above 
the  ticket  window  showed  7:30,  too  late  to  catch 
Matti  at  home  and  perhaps  too  early  to  visit  him 
at  his  store. 

The  little  bags  of  candy  and  bowls  of  fruit  at 
the  magazine  stand  reminded  him  that  he  had  not 
prepared  a  hot  breakfast  before  he  left  home.  A 
cozy  cafe  would  make  a  nice  place  to  wait  and  to 
think. 

Before  he  left  the  station,  he  fixed  his  scarf 
over  his  nose  and  mouth  and  pulled  the  fur  hat 
down  even  with  his  eyebrows.  It  was  early  yet, 
and  men  dressed  in  brown  leather  work  clothes 
were  shoveling  dirt  onto  the  icy  streets  from 
horse-drawn  wagons. 

Kaarlo  left  the  station  and  walked  to  a  cafe 
a  few  yards  ahead.  The  air  inside  was  steamy 
and  fragrant  with  the  smell  of  hot  soup  and  cooked 
mush,  and  the  place  was  crowded  with  men  joking 
and  eating.  He  picked  up  a  tray  and  helped  him- 
self to  hot  stew,  black  rye  bread,  and  thick  butter- 
milk. The  steaming  tray  was  a  bit  of  comfort  to 
his  worried  mind,  and  he  took  his  time  warming 
and  filling  himself.  The  cold  emptiness  dissipated 
gradually,  as  did  the  crowd. 

Then  he  bundled  himself  up  again  and  went  out 
into  the  cold.  He  crossed  the  street  to  the  market 
square  where  men  and  women,  dressed  in  gray 


Improvement  Era 


twill  and  black  felt  coats  and  black  boots,  were 
setting  up  booths.  The  white  canvas  roofs  were 
badly  stained  from  the  weather,  and  Kaarlo 
watched  for  a  while  as  the  wares  were  hung  and 
arranged  under  them.  Helmi  had  tended  such  a 
booth  in  Imatra,  selling  sauna  bath  brushes  and 
sponges.  Until  he  was  old  enough  for  school,  Matti 
used  to  play  around  the  booths.  Kaarlo  could  re- 
member Helmi  pulling  the  heavy  cart,  with  Matti 
perched  on  top  of  it,  up  to  the  shed  behind  the 
cottage. 

He  shook  his  head  at  the  memory,  and  a  fresh 
surge  of  heaviness  filled  his  soul  as  he  made  his 
way  across  the  square  and  up  the  street  to  Matti's 
apartment.  The  landlady  unlocked  the  door  for 
him,  and  he  slowly  shut  it  behind  him.  The  place 
was  clean,  and  the  modern  furnishings  were  evi- 
dence of  Matti's  success  in  business. 

Kaarlo  laid  his  wraps  on  a  bench  by  the  door 
and  set  his  leather  satchel  down  beside  it.  The 
clock  showed  the  hour  of  ten.  It  would  be  a  long 
wait  until  evening,  and  he  felt  the  strain  of  his 
journey.  Easing  himself  into  a  large  chair,  he 
soon  slept. 

He  awoke  in  mid-afternoon  to  the  whistle  of  the 
howling  wind.  The  whirl  of  white  outside  the 
window  bleached  the  view  and  softened  the  after- 
noon light.  He  stretched  himself  as  much  as  his 
bent  limbs  would  allow  and  rose  from  the  chair. 
He  felt  rested  in  body  but  his  soul  was  growing 
more  restless  as  he  saw  the  hour  nearing  three. 
The  hard  business  of  waiting  confused  his  think- 
ing, and  a  dozen  dialogues  passed  through  his 
mind,  each  one  growing  more  bitter  as  he  argued 
with  his  son  until  he  was  shouting  and  cursing 
within  himself.  The  gnarled  old  hand  wiped  the 
sweat  from  his  forehead. 

"What  will  I  say  to  my  son?"  he  muttered,  and 
shrugged  his  shoulders  in  bewilderment. 

He  walked  to  the  desk  and  switched  on  the 
lamp.  His  eyes  scanned  the  shelves  and  stopped. 
For  a  moment  he  was  stunned  with  bitterness; 
then  his  anger  mounted.  He  stretched  out  his 
trembling  hand,  grabbed  the  book  by  its  front 
cover,  and  flung  it  wildly  across  the  room.  The 
title  page  remained  in  his  grip.  He  spat  on  the 
words  "Book  of  Mormon"  and  crushed  the  sheet 


into  a  ball,  twisting  it  in  his  hand. 

He  dropped  on  the  sofa  and  stared  in  hatred 
at  the  torn  book.    "Cursed  book !"  he  snarled. 

A  picture  of  Matti  as  a  soldier  hung  between 
pictures  of  Kaarlo  and  Helmi  on  the  wall  opposite 
the  sofa.  Kaarlo's  gaze  switched  from  the  book 
to  the  picture.  "How  proud  and  fine  a  son  you 
were  in  battle  for  your  homeland,"  he  whispered. 
"How  could  such  a  fine  mind  like  yours  be  trapped 
by  a  heathen  religion?" 

He  looked  back  to  the  torn  book  on  the  floor. 
"What  could  such  a  book  contain  to  lure  my  son?" 

The  howling  of  the  wind  had  ceased  outside  the 
window.  Kaarlo  felt  the  same  emptiness  draining 
his  heart  as  on  the  cold  night  when  he  lost  Helmi. 
It  was  during  the  winter  war  against  Russia. 
Helmi  had  volunteered  with  the  women  of  the 
town  to  gather  firewood  in  the  forest.  It  was 
dangerous  business  to  comb  through  the  woods 
so  close  to  the  lines  of  battle  in  eastern  Finland, 
and  an  undetected  mine  exploded  as  Helmi  and 
the  cart  full  of  wood  passed  over  it.  Kaarlo  sent 
little  Matti  to  be  cared  for  by  his  sister  in  Kemi 
on  the  western  coast  until  the  war  had  ended.  To 
return  to  Imatra  without  Helmi  seemed  unthink- 
able, and  so  Kaarlo  also  moved  to  Kemi. 

Now  he  again  felt  a  destructive  force  invading 
his  family. 

"I  must  save  my  son !"  he  cried.  "I'll  expose  this 
enemy  and  make  Matti  see  its  danger!" 

He  rose  tremblingly  and  walked  to  where  the 
book  lay.  Bending  down,  he  picked  it  up  and 
carried  it  back  to  the  desk.  His  shaking  fingers 
smoothed  the  crumpled  pages  and  opened  them  to 
the  first  chapter.  The  old  eyes  bowed  closer  to 
the  book  and  squinted  until  the  words  found  clar- 
ity. "I,  Nephi,  having  been  born  of  goodly 
parents.  .  .  ."  The  words  caught  in  his  throat. 
"Matti,  haven't  you  been  born  of  goodly  parents  ?" 
he  cried  aloud. 

"Of  course  I  have,  Papa." 

Kaarlo  turned  toward  the  door.  Matti  was 
brushing  the  snow  from  his  coat  and  beaming  at 
the  sight  of  his  father. 

"When  did  you  come,  Papa?  You  shouldn't  be 
out  in  a  storm  like  this." 

Kaarlo's  voice  was  trembling  as  he  struggled 


February  1968 


to  address  his  son.  "Ah,  the  storm,  the  storm ! 
It  is  not  so  bad  as  this  enemy  which  seeks  to  tear 
you  from  your  own  papa!"  He  waved  the  book  in 
front  of  him. 

"Papa,  what  do  you  mean?  I  am  not  being  torn 
from  you.  I  want  you  to  hear  about  the  most 
rewarding   news    I've   been   blessed   to   receive!" 

"I  will  not  hear  of  it!"  Kaarlo  exclaimed. 

Matti  let  his  coat  and  hat  drop  over  his  father's 
wraps  on  the  bench. 

"The  cold  and  dark  make  us  cross  and  hungry. 
Let  me  make  a  warm  supper  for  you,  Papa." 

Kaarlo  nodded  and  settled  back  down  onto  the 
sofa.  "Rewarding  news,  hah!  Who  brings  this 
news  that  shades  your  eyes?" 

Matti  came  into  the  living  room  with  a  sack  of 
rice  in  his  hands.  "Two  Americans  who  are  fine 
young  men  sent  by  the  Lord.  They  will  call  on 
me  tonight.    I  want  you  to  meet  them." 

"No!"  Kaarlo  shook  his  head.  "I  will  not  see 
them." 

Matti  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  turned  back 
into  the  kitchen.  Kaarlo's  grip  tightened  on  the 
book  until  his  knuckles  were  white;  then  he  laid 
it  on  the  sofa  and  went  into  the  kitchen.  The  meal 
was  hot  and  satisfying  to  the  old  man.    His  nerves 


felt  relaxed  as  he  listened  with  pride  as  his  son 
reviewed  the  success  of  his  store.  A  man  so 
wise  and  successful  as  Matti  should  not  be  easily 
trapped  by  nonsense,  Kaarlo  thought.  Perhaps 
this  thing  was  not  nonsense  or  foolishness,  but 
certainly  it  was  evil  and  deceiving. 

Matti  rose  and  began  to  clear  the  table. 

"The  Americans  come  in  half  an  hour,  Papa. 
You  will  like  them,  you'll  see." 

Kaarlo  shook  his  head.  "I  go  to  bed.  You  send 
them  away  if  you  love  your  papa  and  your 
homeland." 

Matti  felt  his  father's  words  bite  into  the  joy 
of  his  new  faith. 

"Let  me  help  you  into  bed,  Papa." 

Matti  shut  the  door  between  the  living  room 
and  the  bedroom.  He  stood  for  a  moment  with 
head  bowed  and  hands  clasped.  The  prayer  for 
the  understanding  of  his  father  was  short  and 
simple.  As  he  opened  his  eyes  he  saw  the 
crumpled  page  on  the  floor  and  the  closed  book 
on  the  sofa. 

"What  could  make  Papa  hate  it  so  much?" 

If  anyone  were  ever  alone  and  needing  comfort 
and  faith,  Matti  knew  it  must  be  his  father.  The 
stubbornness  against  change  and  the  lack  of  en- 
thusiasm for  life  must  be  conquered,  but  how? 

He  heard  the  missionaries  getting  off  the 
elevator  and  hurried  to  the  door  to  open  it  as  they 
rang.  The  two  young  men  brushed  the  snow  off, 
their  red  faces  shining  with  wide  smiles  as  Matti 
welcomed  them  inside.  They  joked  and  laughed 
about  the  cold  weather  before  getting  down  to 
business.  Matti  felt  the  strength  of  their  spirit 
pour  into  his  own  new  testimony  as  he  visited 
with  them.  How  he  wished  that  his  father  could 
join  in  this  happiness  and  light! 

Elder  Davis  cleared  his  throat  and  asked  Matti 
if  he  would  like  to  open  their  meeting  with  prayer. 
The  request  caught  him  off  guard,  but  he  knelt 
with  the  elders  and  began  to  pray.  As  he  prayed  he 
thought  of  his  father  lying  in  the  dark,  alone 
and  bitter.  ",  .  .  and  bless  my  father  that  he 
may  accept  and  understand  thy  truths,  which  I 
must  take  upon  myself." 

He  finished  the  prayer  and  sat  down.  The 
missionaries  were  visibly  touched  by  the  sincerity 


Improvement  Era 


of  the  prayer,  and  Elder  Davis  inquired  about 
Matti's  father. 

Kaarlo  lay  in  the  darkness  trying  to  shut  out 
the  conversation  in  the  next  room.  The  more  he 
fought  it,  the  more  he  had  to  listen. 

"Brother  Maki,  we've  had  a  change  in  your 
baptismal  arrangements,"  the  missionary  was 
saying. 

"Good,  good!"  Kaarlo,  in  the  next  room,  whis- 
pered to  himself. 

The  elder  continued :  "How  would  you  like  to  be 
baptized  tomorrow  afternoon  rather  than  next 
week?" 

Kaarlo  was  rocked  by  panic.  "Say  no!  Never!" 
he  shouted  within  himself. 

"The  reason  for  the  change,"  Elder  Davis  con- 
tinued, "is  that  the  swimming  hall  has  been  re- 
scheduled for  competition  next  week.  We  have 
the  portable  font  coming  on  the  midnight  train 
from  Pori,  and  we  can  set  it  up  in  the  chapel 
tomorrow." 

Matti  looked  toward  the  bedroom  door  and  then 
back  to  the  elders.  "What  time  shall  I  meet  you 
at  the  chapel?" 

The  tears  shone  in  the  eyes  of  Elders  Davis  and 
Clark  as  smiles  of  gratitude  spread  across  their 
faces.  Kaarlo's  heart  was  sinking  in  hurt  and 
bitterness.  The  dark  room  seemed  to  be  closing 
tighter  about  him  as  he  felt  Helmi  and  now  Matti 
fading  out  of  his  life  forever. 

"Is  there  anything  you  would  like  to  ask  or 
review  before  we  get  into, our  discussion?"  Elder 
Davis  asked. 

Matti  thought  for  a  moment.  "Yes,  there  is.  I'd 
like  you  to  review  the  journey  of  man  through  the 
Lord's  plan  of  eternal  life." 

"The  journey  of  man  indeed !"  Kaarlo  coughed. 

Elder  Clark  set  up  his  flannel  board  and  pro- 
cee'ded  to  explain  the  plan  of  salvation  as  out- 
lined in  the  scriptures.  Matti  answered  the 
questions  with  accuracy. 

The  whole  story  was  inconceivable  to  Kaarlo. 
Why,  even  the  priest  had  declared  at  Helmi's 
funeral  that  her  spirit  would  rest  forever  in  that 
great  beyond  while  her  body  remained  forever  in 
the  ground. 

As  Elder  Clark  finished  the  review,  Elder  Davis 


added  his  testimony.  Kaarlo  heard  him  declare 
that  he  knew  that  families  would  be  reunited  and 
resurrected  to  live  in  the  vigor  of  their  manhood 
and  the  beauty  of  their  womanhood  in  the  presence 
of  God,  if  they  accepted  God's  plan  here  on  earth. 
The  statement  struck  Kaarlo  like  a  bolt  of 
lightning.  "My  Helmi  alive  and  waiting  for  me?" 
His  heart  was  pounding.  "Can  it  be  true?"  he 
whispered. 

How  much  longer  the  missionaries  stayed  was 
unknown  to  Kaarlo.  His  mind  was  held  captive 
by  the  memory  of  his  lovely  Helmi.  How  was  her 
hair  fixed  ?  In  a  braid,  a  bun,  or  flowing  over  her 
shoulder?  Yes,  yes,  that  was  it — long  and  lovely 
and  golden  as  the  sun-warmed  wheat.  Her  eyes 
were  blue  as  the  summer  sky  is  blue,  and  her  skin, 
clear  and  pink.  Was  he  crying?  The  tears 
trickled  down  his  cheeks.  Wonderful,  gay  Helmi! 
Remember  how  she  proudly  stood  in  the  door  of 
the  little  cottage  by  the  lake  and  presented  him 
with  his  tiny  son  as  he  returned  from  the  logging 
camp?  There  she  is  now,  standing  on  the  little 
boat  dock  at  the  lake  with  the  picnic  basket  in  one 
arm  and  Matti  in  the  other.  How  full  of  life  and 
youth  and  joy  she  is,  with  the  warmth  of  summer 
all  about  her.  The  old  man  stretched  forth  his 
arms  to  enfold  her  tenderly.  It  was  as  if  she 
were  there,  vibrant  and  sweet,  in  the  room  with 
him  now. 

Then  came  the  ravages  of  war,  and  in  the  white 
and  empty  bleakness  of  the  winter  forest  she  was 
gone.  Kaarlo  felt  himself  standing  in  the  little 
cemetery  by  the  church  as  her  coffin  was  slowly 
lifted  from  the  cart  and  placed  in  the  frozen 
ground.  The  gray  wooden  box  disappeared  be- 
neath the  dirt  and  snow.  "Helmi !"  the  old  man 
cried.    "We  had  so  little  time !" 

The  voice  of  Elder  Davis  rang  clear  in  his  mind: 
".  .  .  and  live  in  the  beauty  of  their  womanhood 
forever." 

"Is  it  true,  is  it  true?"  Kaarlo  kept  asking,  as 
he  tossed  and  turned  all  night.  First  Helmi,  then 
the  book  he  had  torn,  and  then  Matti  danced  be- 
fore his  vision  through  the  long  hours. 

Perhaps  he  slept  and  dreamed — he  could  not 
tell ;  but  the  dull  aching  in  his  back  and  shoulders 
reminded  him  that  he  had  not  rested.     He  sat 


February  1968 


up  slowly  and  rested  on  the  edge  of  the  bed.   The 

room  was  still  dark,  but  he  shuffled  his  way  to  the 
window  and  parted  the  drapes.  The  air  was  clear 
and  the  scene  still  and  sharp.  He  glanced  toward 
the  clear  black  of  the  sky;  the  few  stars  that 
remained  in  the  pre-dawn  were  brilliant.  The 
pureness  of  the  night  flowed  into  his  soul  and 
sharpened  the  longing  he  felt  for  Helmi.  He  stared 
at  the  sky. 

"Oh,  tell  me,"  he  cried,  "is  it  true  what  the 
Americans  say?"  It  was  the  first  time  he  had 
ever  called  upon  any  divine  being.  He  stumbled 
back  to  the  bed  and  fell  exhausted  upon  it.  .  .  . 

Matti  threw  back  the  covers  and  swung  his 
feet  into  his  slippers  before  the  alarm  went  off. 
Today  he  would  be  baptized  and  take  his  first  step 
toward  the  kingdom  of  God !  He  was  excited  and 
happy;  then  he  remembered  his  father's  bitter- 
ness. The  worry  he  felt  edged  out  the  joy  and 
left  him  troubled  as  he  washed  and  dressed.  Be- 
fore he  left  his  room,  he  knelt  down  by  the  side 
of  his  bed  and  prayed. 

"Please,  Father  in  heaven,  help  Papa  to  under- 
stand what  I  must  do."  Peace  returned  to  his 
heart  as  he  rose  from  his  knees  and  went  into  the 
kitchen.  He  fixed  a  breakfast  tray  and  carried  it 
into  his  father. 

Kaarlo  opened  his  eyes  as  his  son  entered  the 
room.  "You  bring  your  old  papa  his  breakfast 
in  bed?    You  are  a  good  son." 

"It's  been  a  long  time  since  I  did  something 
good  for  you,  Papa." 

"Nonsense!  You're  always  good  to  me." 


Matti  set  the  tray  on  Kaarlo's  lap  and  watched 
while  the  old  man  ate  the  hot  mush.  "Papa,"  he 
hesitated,  "I  will  be  baptized  today  into  the  Mor- 
mon Church." 

Kaarlo  nodded  his  head.  "I  know.  I  heard  your 
American  friends  speak  of  it  last  night." 

Matti  watched  his  father's  eyes  carefully,  but 
he  could  not  read  the  expression  behind  them. 
"Papa,  I  don't  mean  to  hurt  you  or  bring  you 
shame,  but  I  have  to  join  the  Mormons.  I  know 
that  they  speak  the  truth." 

The  old  man  searched  his  son's  face  before 
speaking.  "You  have  been  a  good  son,  always, 
and  you  have  never  been  dishonest  with  your 
papa.  Are  you  sure  that  this  new  religion  is 
the  truth?" 

"Yes,  Papa,  I  am  sure." 

"Then  I  must  ask  you  something  else.  Last 
night  the  Americans  said  we  live  in  youth  and 
fineness  with  God  in  a  future  life.  Is  my  Helmi 
really  there,  alive  and  waiting?" 

The  earnestness  with  which  Kaarlo  spoke 
tugged  at  Matti's  heart.  With  joyful  faith  he 
answered,  "Oh,  yes!  Don't  you  see,  Papa?  I  have 
prayed  that  the  Lord  would  bless  you  with  under- 
standing, and  he  has  answered  my  prayers !" 

"I  know,"  Kaarlo  said.  "I  have  prayed  too,  and 
someday,  perhaps,  I  shall  be  baptized  a  Mormon, 
if  they  have  room  for  an  old  man !" 

Matti  lifted  the  tray  and  smiled  at  his  father 
with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye. 

"You  know,  Papa?  I  too  have  been  born  of 
goodly  parents !"  O 


Feminine  Agenda 
By  Mildred  Ann  Bazan 

Although  I'm  aware  it's  the  hour  for  sleep, 

Some  pertinent  rendezvous  I've  yet  to  keep: 

A  chapter  of  Bronte,  a  diary  page, 

This  week's  computation  of  my  sitting  wage, 

Tivo  minutes  of  whirl  in  a  dress  that  is  new 

(One  must  know  beforehand  what  box  pleats  will  do), 

One  hundred  strokes  of  the  brush  to  my  hair, 

And,  last  and  best,  meeting  with  God,  in  prayer! 


10 


Improvement  Era 


*' 


Teaching 

Conducted  by  the 
Church  School  System 


Illustrated  by  Dale  Kilboutn 


ONTACT ! 

By  Nicholas  Van  Alfen 


JnsiSut&'df  Religion  Instructor,  Ogden,  Utah 


•  The  dawn  was  beginning  to 
chase  the  night  shadows  from  a 
United  States  airstrip  in  France 
on  the  first  of  August  1917,  as 
the  warning  was  flashed  of  ap- 
proaching enemy  planes.  Ameri- 
can fighter  pilots  soon  were 
bursting  from  the  barracks,  run- 
ning in  several  directions.  As  the 
pilots  settled  into  their  cockpits, 
they  anxiously  waited  to  hear  the 
keyword  pierce  the  crisp  morning 


air.  Their  comrades  on  the 
ground  gripped  the  propeller 
blades  of  the  planes  and  shouted, 
"Contact!"  Immediately  a  vigor- 
ous pull  on  a  blade  brought  the 
welcome  but  deafening  roar  of 
a  powerful  engine.  Soon  the 
planes  were  rising  into  the  dawn 
to  meet  the  challenge. 

A  successful  point  of  contact 
between  the  man  on  the  ground 
controlling  the  propellers  and  the 


pilot  in  the  plane  waiting  in  an- 
ticipation during  these  urgent 
situations  was  an  all-important 
factor.  There  were  times  of  great 
concern  when  the  shout  "Con- 
tact!" and  a  pull  on  the  pro- 
peller did  not  bring  the  roar 
of  the  motor  because  of  some 
malfunction. 

As  if  on  an  airstrip,  a  teacher 
stands  before  his  class;  the 
students  are  seated — the  "switch" 


February  1968 


11 


"To  pass  on  unfounded,  hearsay  stories  of  a  sensational  nature  ...  is  poor  teaching." 


is  on.  The  hour  is  extremely 
important,  because  there  are 
young  lives  looking  to  him  for  a 
meaningful  experience.  The  teach- 
er may  fail  to  pull  the  "propeller 
blade,"  however,  because  the  hour 
seems  too  long  for  the  little 
preparation  he  has,  so  he  delays 
the  takeoff.  The  result  is  that 
there  is  no  meaningful  contact. 

When  a  teacher  vacillates  by 
spending  too  much  time  on  non- 
contributing  details,  such  as  a 
lengthy  roll  call,  which  could  be 
handled  another  way,  or  rambling 
about  in  an  attempt  to  be  enter- 
taining, he  does  not  instill  the 
feeling  of  a  planned  program  in 
the  minds  of  his  students.  Stu- 
dents will  sit  in  anticipation  at 
the  feet  of  a  teacher  who  knows 
where  he  is  going  and  gets  on  his 
way.  A  good  teacher  is  eager  to 
present  his  material  and  is  en- 
thusiastic about  what  he  has  to 
offer. 

All  of  us  are  searching  to  find 
contact  with  the  meaningful 
things  that  give  life  the  spark  and 
purpose  it  should  have.  It  is  then 
that  we  soar  above  mundane 
thoughts  and  mundane  living.  The 
point  of  contact  found  by  stu- 
dents in  a  meaningful  experience 
in  a  classroom  may  prove  to  be 
a  turning  point  in  their  lives.  By 
finding  the  points  of  contact  in 
the  lives  of  class  members,  a 
teacher  can  become  the  architect 
of  many  souls  through  the  use  of 
proper  methods  and  knowledge. 

Students  become  involved  only 
when  a  teacher's  lesson  enters 
into  the  orbit  of  their  experience. 
A  teacher  can  pull  on  the  pro- 
peller blade  of  nonlife-related 
material  for  an  hour  and  not  even 
get  a  sputter.    Standing  before  a 


class  is  like  standing  before 
receiving  stations  that  have  their 
dials  variously  set.  It  is  the 
teacher's  challenge  to  influence 
the  class  to  tune  in  to  the  pro- 
gram he  has  prepared  for  that 
hour. 

I  remember,  when  I  was  a  boy, 
a  small,  well-worn  frame  house  in 
which  lived  an  old  man  who 
always  kept  the  window  shades 
pulled  down.  We  children  were 
afraid  to  go  near  it.  No  one 
could  see  in,  and  we  supposed 
that  he  did  not  see  out.  He  came 
out  of  his  house  only  after  dark 
to  walk  around  the  block  a  few 
times.  Our  parents  had  little 
trouble  getting  us  to  come  in  just 
before  dark  each  evening,  even 
though  the  old  man  never  hurt 
anyone.  Then  one  very  cold  day 
they  found  him  dead  in  his  small, 
closed-in  world.  People  knew  his 
name  but  that  was  all. 

Very  few  people  live  alone  in 
little  frame  houses  with  drawn 
shades.  Many  people,  however, 
do  live  alone  with  their  problems, 
which  are  often  very  serious  and 
sad.  Sometimes  even  parents  are 
not  aware  of  their  own  children's 
problems,  because  they  are  so 
busy  with  other  things. 

Students  often  have  a  drawn 
shade  covering  their  problems. 
Teachers  may  be  unaware  of  the 
heartaches  of  a  student  sitting 
only  three  feet  away  in  a  class- 
room. The  only  way  we  will  ever 
know  that  others  are  sad  and 
may  need  help  is  for  us  to  even- 
tually raise  by  personal  interest 
that  shade  which  is  dividing  their 
problems  from  o'ur  perception. 
Only  then  will  we  be  able  to  con- 
tact each  other  heart-to-heart  as 
well  as  eye-to-eye. 


In  a  teacher's  life  there  should 
be  a  minimum  of  drawn  shades 
between  himself  and  his  students. 
There  cannot  be  much  meaning- 
ful contact  with  a  group  of  stu- 
dents when  a  teacher  does  not 
penetrate  beyond  the  shadows 
where  the  real  person  is  to  be 
found. 

For  example,  a  good  relation- 
ship between  a  mother  and  her 
children  exhibits  a  most  basic 
principle  of  successful  teaching. 
This  principle  is  her  uninhibited 
love  for  her  children,  which  she 
manifests  in  her  concern,  pa- 
tience, and  persistence.  Her 
contact  with  her  children  is  on  a 
feeling  level;  thus,  her  little 
"class"  has  full  confidence  in 
their  "teacher."  In  all  teaching 
situations,  the  feeling  contact 
leaves  the  most  enduring  im- 
pression. 

The  use  of  imagination  is  an 
excellent  point  of  contact.  For 
example,  the  beauty  of  a  gem  is 
not  enhanced  by  exhibiting  it  in 
the  palm  of  the  hand;  its  true 
beauty  is  even  inhibited  in  such 
a  situation.  But  this  same  stone 
displayed  in  a  lovely  setting  in- 
creases in  value  to  the  eye  and 
seems  more  desirable. 

The  same  is  true  of  a  meaning- 
ful gem  of  life  that  possibly  could 
remain  in  a  vague  stage  because 
of  inadequate  explanation.  Dis- 
playing life's  values  in  word  pic- 
tures, stories,  and  illustrations 
makes  them  more  real,  vivid,  and 
meaningful  in  life's  situations, 
and  the  desire  to  possess  such 
values  is  stimulated. 

To  illustrate,  consider  the  fol- 
lowing: A  honeybee  moves  from 
flower  to  flower  and  plant  to 
plant.     Some  of  these  plants  are 


12 


Improvement  Era 


bitter  to  the  taste,  while  others  ask  himself,  "Is  what  I  am  going  in  which  I  lived  gathered  in  an 
are  sweet.  The  bee  only  extracts  to  teach  reasonable?  Does  it  fit  early  morning  session  prior  to  the 
and  stores  the  sweet  that  blesses  into  the  total  pattern  of  the  general  meeting  of  our  stake  con- 
mankind.  So  it  should  be  with  teachings  of  the  Church,  the  ference.  Among  other  business 
us.  Out  of  the  variety  of  life's  New  Testament,  and  modern  taken  up,  we  learned  from  our 
experiences,  one  must  store  only  scriptures?  Do  I  understand  visiting  General  Authority  that 
the  sweet  to  become  part  of  him.  what  I  am  talking  about?  Am  I  the  presiding  brethren  were  some- 
If  we  choose,  we  may  also  store  dabbling  in  the  'so-what'  areas?"  what  concerned  about  a  rash  of 
the  bitter  in  our  souls  as  we  walk  A  teacher  who  is  not  mindful  such  stories  abounding  at  the 
through  life,  seeing  only  the  ugly  of  these  questions  may  short  time.  This  member  of  the  Gen- 
and  wrong  and  developing  a  sick-  circuit  some  of  the  lives  of  his  eral  Authorities  told  us  that  he 
ness  of  soul  that  leads  to  spiritual  students  through  his  contact  with  had  been  assigned  to  ascertain  if 
death.  student  thinking  by  adding  to  the  there  were  validity  to  the  inci- 

Word  pictures  leave  lasting  im-  already  present  problem  about  dents  described.  He  had  not  sup- 
pressions. The  story  of  the  Prodi-  religion  that  students  have  in  ceeded  up  to  that  time  because 
gal  Son  has  special  meaning  to  some  areas  of  their  college  the  persons  supposedly  involved 
fathers  who  find  contact  with  the  education.  in  such  stories  were  unidentified, 
story  or  to  sons  who  find  them-  Sensationalism  may  gain  the  There  was  one  case  in  which 
selves  personally  involved.  Equal-  temporary  interest  of  a  class,  but  the  principal  person  in  such  a 
ly  effective  are  the  stories  of  it  is  a  poor  substitute  for  a  realis-  story  was  named,  but  when  this 
the  Good  Samaritan,  the  Sower,  tic  and  rational  approach  to  person  was  approached  he  was 
the  woman  found  in  adultery,  and  religion  and  life.  To  become  ab-  quite  amused  because  he  knew 
many  others.  These  and  other  sorbed  in  the  speculative,  to  teach  nothing  about  it.  The  visiting 
qualities  made  Christ  the  Master  the  future  as  if  it  has  been  blue-  brother  clearly  indicated  that  we 
Teacher,  after  whom  we  try  to  printed  in  detail  by  the  prophets  as  leaders  in  the  stake  should 
pattern  our  teaching.  of  the  past,  is  not  the  true  image  strongly  discourage  these  things. 

Men   and   women  who   teach,  that  should  represent  religion  in  Teachers  who  are  responsible  for 

however,  should  not  go  on  and  on  the  lives  of  young  people.     To  directing    the    minds    of    others 

borrowing  from  the  Master  alone  seek  contact  with  student  minds  must  also  avoid  such  speculative 

but   should   become   imaginative  through   passing   on    unfounded,  and     unfounded     stories.       The 

and  creative  in  their  own  right,  hearsay  stories  of  a  sensational  Apostle  Paul  said  to  the  Church 

Just  as  Christ's  source  was  the  nature,  involving  supposed  experi-  in  his  day,  "Prove  all  things;  hold 

world  around  him,  so  should  our  ences  by  this  or  that  person  who  fast  that  which  is  good."  (I  Thess. 

modern  world  and  experiences  be  is  never  present  for  verification,  5:21.) 

rich  sources  for  stories  and  illus-  is  poor  teaching.  We  have  a  lofty  image  of  men 

trations  that  will  contact  lives.  One  would  have  to  stretch  his  who  can  heal  the  body  or  send  a 

The  days  of  witch  hunting,  imagination  enormously  to  accept  spacecraft  to  distant  planets,  and 
superstition,  and  ignorance  have  some  of  the  stories  that  caught  these  achievements  are  important, 
yielded  to  human  progress  and  fire  sometime  ago  about  the  Among  the  most  precious  assets 
divine  revelation.  Young  people  Three  Nephites.  One  or  all,  de-  of  society,  however,  are  effective 
today  have  the  advantage  of  being  pending  upon  the  story,  were  teachers  who  develop  young 
exposed  to  education  and  critical  supposed  to  be  hitchhiking  on  the  minds.  The  men  and  women  who 
thinking.  Continuing  education  highways  delivering  messages  of  have  paid  the  price  to  become 
is  refining  the  thought  processes  warning  to  this  generation  of  the  successful  architects  of  the  soul 
of  our  developing  youth  to  the  Church  through  considerate  driv-  through  making  meaningful  con- 
point  where  they  want  rational  ers  who  had  given  them  rides,  tacts  with  young  lives  are  the 
answers.  Every  time  a  teacher  During  this  period  the  bishoprics  hope  of  our  future  generations 
of  religion  faces  a  class,  he  must  and  high  councilors  of  the  stake  in  the  Church.                              O 


February  1968  13 


A  New  Look  at  the 

Pearl  of  Great  Price 


By  Dr.  Hugh  Nibley 
Part  I.  Challenge  and  Response  (Continued) 


Amateurs  All 

•  The  ever-increasing  scope  of  knowledge  necessary  to  cope 
with  the  great  problems  of  our  day  has  led  to  increasing 
emphasis  on  a  maxim  that  would  have  sounded  very  strange 
only  a  few  years  ago:  "There  are  no  fields — there  are  only 
problems!" — meaning  that  one  must  bring  to  the  discussion 
and  solution  of  any  given  problem  whatever  is  required  to 
understand  it:  If  the  problem  calls  for  a  special  mathematics, 
one  must  get  it;  if  it  calls  for  three  or  four  languages,  one 
must  get  them;  if  it  takes  20  years,  one  must  be  prepared 
to  give  it  20  years — or  else  shift  to  some  other  problem. 
Degrees  and  credentials  are  largely  irrelevant  where  a  prob- 
lem calls  for  more  information  than  any  one  department 
can  supply  or  than  can  be  packaged  into  any  one  or  a  dozen 
degrees. 

Now  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price  presents  a  number  of  big 
problems  with  which  no  Egyptologist  has  ever  coped.  A 
knowledge  of  Egyptian  is  the  first  step  toward  a  solution  of 
such  problems,  but  it  is  by  no  means  the  last.  Still,  first 
things  come  first:  "Ancient  Egypt,"  wrote  one  of  the  earliest 
modern  researchers  in  the  field,  "is  accessible  only  to  a 
small  number,  because  of  the  length  and  the  difficulties 
of  the  initiation  into  the  language  of  the  hieroglyphs.  .  .  . 
But  can  a  historian  .  .  .  renounce  the  direct  examination  of 
the  original  documents,  which  become  every  day  more 
varied  and  more  numerous,  without  violating  the  first  rule 
of  his  discipline?"42 

Like  it  or  not,  we  are  stuck  with  Egyptian,  and  it  is  only 
fair  to  note,  in  defense  of  the  specialists,  that  if  authori- 
tarianism can  be  a  great  mischief,  the  quackery  to  which  it 


gives  rise  can  be  even  worse,  a  quack  being  anybody  posing 
as  an  authority — a  shadow  of  a  shadow.  There  is  a  place 
in  the  world  for  professionalism  and  even  for  "authority" 
in  science,  as  Thomas  S.  Kuhn  has  explained  at  great  length; 
every  field  has  its  "paradigms"  that  must  be  mastered 
thoroughly  so  that  they  can  be  used  as  tools,  quickly,  deftly, 
with  unconscious  skill,  in  the  processes  of  problem  solving. 
The  expert  is  one  who  knows  how  to  use  those  tools,  and 
because  the  Doctors  have  not  chosen  to  use  their  knowledge 
in  a  serious  study  of  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price,  it  does  not 
follow  that  such  knowledge  is  not  important  for  such 
study — rather,  it  is  indispensable. 

Any  ancient  text  is  utterly  without  meaning  to  one  who 
does  not  know  the  language  in  which  it  is  written.  Egyp- 
tian, however,  being  written  in  pictures,  has  been  held 
to  enjoy  a  unique  status  among  the  mysteries.  Away  back 
in  the  fifth  century  Horapollon  had  the  idea  that  by 
attributing  a  symbolic  meaning  to  each  little  picture  and 
putting  the  symbols  together,  one  could  discover  the  mean- 
ing of  any  Egyptian  text.  This  theory  was  adhered  to  by 
would-be  translators  of  Egyptian  right  down  to  the  time  of 
Champollion,  and  it  still  has  its  advocates  among  Latter-day 
Saints  who  would  discover  ever-new  secrets  in  the  Fac- 
similes and  identify  battered  Indian  rock-carvings  with 
Egyptian  glyphs. 

The  attempt  to  give  one's  own  interpretation  to  picture- 
writing  is  hard  to  resist.  At  the  general  conference  in 
April  1967,  for  example,  somebody  circulated  a  mimeo- 
graphed document  bearing  the  frank  and  forthright  title, 


14 


Improvement  Era 


And  though  he  denied 
that  his  brochure  was  "circulated 

especially  among  the  students  of  Latter-day 
Saint  high  schools," 

he  did  admit  putting  it  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  would  see 

that  it  got  there. 


"Why  Would  Anyone  Want  to  Fight  the  Truth?"  The 
"truth"  in  this  case  consisted  of  the  author's  common-sense 
observations  on  the  nature  of  Egyptian,  such  as,  that  an 
Egyptian  symbol  written  with  four  elements  "could  be  no 
more  than  a  single  Egyptian  word."  But  ancient  languages 
have  a  way  of  ignoring  our  modern  common-sense  rules; 
the  Egyptians  in  particular  had  an  incurable  weakness  for 
abbreviations,  omissions,  transpositions,  puns,  and  crypto- 
grams, and  their  writings  are  full  of  signs  which,  even 
when  we  know  their  meaning  (which  is  by  no  means 
always  the  case),  require  at  least  a  sentence  or  two  to 
explain  them.  Anyone  is  free  to  guess  at  the  meaning  of 
any  Egyptian  phrase,  and  one  of  the  most  picturesque  as- 
pects of  the  discipline  is  a  process  that  never  ceases,  day 
and  night,  year  in  and  year  out,  by  which  Egyptologists  are 
constantly  altering  and  improving  on  each  other's  trans- 
lations. But  one  is  not  free  to  present  his  interpretation 
as  "The  Truth,"  and  then  ask  in  hurt  and  accusing  tones, 
"Why  Would  Anyone  Want  to  Fight  the  Truth?"  "I  have 
acted  upon  a  principle  to  which  I  attach  the  greatest  im- 
portance," wrote  A.  H.  Gardiner,  the  dean  of  Egyptian 
grammarians;  "even  a  wrong  idea  is  better  than  no  idea 
at  all,  and  progress  in  translation  can  only  come  by  pre- 
senting to  the  critics  some  definite  objective  to  tilt  at."43  So 
far  was  he  from  thinking  that  the  experts  ever  have  a 
corner  on  truth! 

The  specialists,  however,  can  hardly  be  blamed  for  hesi- 
tating to  become  involved  in  arguments  with  just  anybody, 
for  they  are  daunted  by  a  peculiarly  insidious  occupational 


hazard.44  The  air  of  mystery  and  romance  that  has  always 
surrounded  things  Egyptian  has  never  failed  to  attract  swarms 
of  crackpots,  cultists,  half-baked  scholars,  self- certified  ex- 
perts, and  out-and-out  charlatans.  The  poor  Egyptologist, 
constantly  confronted  with  such  characters  and  their  antics, 
is  understandably  on  his  guard,  quick  to  suspect  and  ever 
alert  to  the  slightest  signs  of  wishful  thinking  or  free  and 
easy  logic.  At  the  same  time  every  Egyptologist  is  something 
of  a  crusader  who  feels  bound  to  foster  and  encourage  inter- 
est in  his  important  but  neglected  field;  he  is  naturally  and 
humanely  hesitant  to  give  any  sincere  seeker  the  brushoff, 
or  to  offend  any  possible  future  donor  or  patron  of  his  art. 
In  addition,  the  Egyptologist  is  himself  a  romantic  at  heart, 
or  else  he  would  never  have  chosen  such  a  field  for  himself, 
and  has  a  secret  and  sometimes  rather  obvious  kinship  with 
the  glamor  hunters.  That,  of  course,  makes  him  even  more 
circumspect  in  his  behavior;  he  can't  afford  to  get  involved 
or  identified  with  such  creatures,  he  shies  like  a  thorough- 
bred horse  at  every  rag  and  tatter  of  nonsense  in  the  breeze, 
and  he  avoids  religious  controversies  like  death  itself.  To 
expect  a  sympathetic  word  for  Joseph  Smith  from  such 
people  is,  of  course,  asking  too  much — a  serious  Egyptologist 
just  can't  risk  it.  Even  to  display  too  lively  an  interest  in 
the  Pearl  of  Great  Price  or  the  Book  of  Mormon  has  been 
known  to  jeopardize  one's  professional  standing. 
Bishop  Spalding  Prepares  His  Surprise 

Bishop  Spalding  is  described  by  those  who  knew  him  as 
a  charming  man,  a  convincing  speaker,  "a  controversialist 
by   nature,"45    an    enthusiastic    intellectual   who    "follows 


February  1968 


15 


those  who  go  to  the  farthest  frontiers  of  research  in  modern, 
or  higher,  criticism  .  .  .  and  fearlessly  accepts  the  results 
of  that  school  of  thought,"40  an  ardent  social  reformer  who, 
while  urging  the  Mormons  to  come  over  to  his  one  "his- 
toric faith,"  regrets  that  the  same  Mormons  are  actually 
doing  what  he  only  wishes  his  own  people  would  do  in  the 
way  of  organized  activity,  while  he  labors  "to  help  'sweep 
and  garnish'  the  house  of  faith  with  the  whisk  broom  of 
Marxian  sophistries."47 

This  man  simply  could  not  square  the  supernaturalist 
claims  of  Joseph  Smith  with  the  enlightened  thinking  of 
1912.  He  made  such  a  show  of  fair  play  and  was  so  diligent 
in  procuring  the  support  of  the  most  eminent  scholars  in 
putting  the  Prophet  to  the  test  that  even  B.  H.  Roberts 
felt  constrained  to  confess,  "his  method  ...  is  entirely 
legitimate,  and  the  spirit  of  it  [is]  irreproachable."48 

But  others,  taking  a  closer  look,  were  not  so  sure: 
".  .  .  while  the  bishop  appears  to  treat  his  subject  with 
fairness,"  wrote  Osborne  J.  P.  Widtsoe,  "[and]  while  he 
tries  to  impress  his  reader  with  his  openness,  his  frankness, 
his  candor,  his  honesty,  yet  his  every  argument  is  based 
upon  some  unfair  implication,  some  false  premise.  .  .  . 
His  fairness  is  but  surface  deep."49  This  grave  charge  is 
fully  borne  out  in  an  interview  published  in  the  New  York 
Times,  in  which  the  bishop's  magnanimous  spirit  of  love 
and  affection  for  the  Mormons  takes  on  a  decidedly  greenish 
tinge: 

"The  breaking  up  of  Mormonism  through  the  desertion 
of  the  intellectual  part  of  its  membership  is  the  failure  for 
the  Prophet  Smith's  church  which  Bishop  Spalding  foresees. 
It  is  for  that  reason  that  he  prefers  to  address  the  Mormons 
as  his  friends  rather  than  to  attack  them."50 

Spalding's  friend,  Dr.  Frederick  J.  Pack,  perceived  the 
wily  stratagem  thus  freely  admitted  by  Bishop  Spalding 
when  he  was  far  away  from  Utah,  and  commented  on  its 
effectiveness:  ".  .  .  the  apparent  fairness  shown  by  Dr. 
Spalding  made  far  into  the  ranks  of  the  Latter-day  Saints 
a  well  prepared  path  along  which  the  conclusions  of  his 
article  might  readily  follow."51  And  when  a  banker  friend 
from  the  East  asked  the  good  bishop,  "Why  not  leave  the 
Mormons  alone?"  he  replied,  "Well,  I  must  feel  about 
their  acceptance  of  what  is  intellectually  and  morally  un- 
true, just  as  you  would  feel  if  you  knew  a  group  of  people 
were  coining  .  .  .  counterfeit  money."52  If  Dr.  Spalding 
had  ever  heard  of  the  Constitution,  which  explicitly  pro- 
vides that  holding  a  wrong  opinion  about  anything  is  not 
a  crime,  as  counterfeiting  is,  he  still  could  not,  for  all  his 
vaunted  liberalism,  stand  the  thought  that  a  religion  whose 
teachings  he  believed  to  be  false  should  be  permitted  to 
stay  in  operation. 

As  he  went  about  with  his  sweet  strategic  smile  ("He 
writes  to  the  Mormons  in  a  kindly  mood,"  says  the  Times), 
the  bishop  was  working  hard  on  his   demolition  project. 


"Much  of  Bishop  Spalding's  work,"  according  to  the  inter- 
view in  the  Times,  "was  done  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum 
of  Art  in  this  city."53  This  suggests  that  the  final  scheme 
took  shape  only  after  a  number  of  other  approaches  had 
proven  ineffectual.  Many  a  better  scholar  than  Dr.  Spalding 
has  discovered  that  the  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith  that 
look  so  delightfully  vulnerable  at  first  sight  become  more 
difficult  to  refute  the  more  carefully  one  studies  them.  "The 
Bishop,  it  is  said,  gave  a  liberal  portion  of  his  time  and 
thought  for  some  years  to  this  literary  production,  fully 
expecting  that  when  it  should  appear  in  print,  it  would 
signal  the  end  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day 
Saints."54  To  compile  the  little  book  of  but  eight  very  brief 
letters  would  take  no  very  great  amount  of  time  or  effort — 
what  was  Dr.  Spalding  doing  all  those  years?  That  his 
long  and  zealous  labors  should  have  brought  forth  so  little 
is  in  itself  a  strong  point  in  Joseph  Smith's  favor. 

But  Spalding  made  the  best  psychological  use  of  the 
little  that  he  had  (an  old  game  with  ministers),  catching 
the  Mormons  completely  off  guard  when  he  finally  "fired 
[his]  broadside  at  us,"  as  Professor  N.  L.  Nelson  put  it: 
".  .  .  think,  man,"  he  wrote  to  his  old  friend,  the  bishop, 
"of  the  'imprudence'  of  it!  without  a  declaration  of  war, 
and  in  a  time  of  profound  peace."  Dr.  Spalding  was 
counting  on  just  that  surprise  to  spread  dismay  and  con- 
fusion, but  though  the  burst  was  impressive,  "as  regards 
three-fourths  of  us,  the  effect  was  purely  spectacular — a 
compound  of  smoke  and  noise."55 

Spalding's  avowed  purpose  was  to  save  "thousands  of 
young  men  and  women"  from  "the  hopelessly  illogical, 
untruthful,  unspiritual,  and  immoral  system  of  Joseph 
Smith,  Jr."56  And  though  he  denied  that  his  brochure  was 
"circulated  especially  among  the  students  of  the  Latter-day 
Saint  high  schools,"  he  did  admit  putting  it  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  would  see  that  it  got  there.57  The  appeal  to 
intellectual  honesty  without  any  insistence  on  hard  study 
can  always  count  on  having  some  effect  among  those  who 
wish  to  be  thought  intellectual,  and  R.  C.  Webb  noted 
that  the  Spalding  plan  capitalized  on  that  snob  appeal 
which  is  never  lost  in  academic  circles.58  Hence  it  was  not 
surprising  that  when  a  valedictory  speaker  at  the  University 
of  Utah  two  years  later  issued  the  routine  call  for  greater 
freedom  of  thought,  his  boldness  was  nationally  advertised 
by  a  visiting  professor  to  the  university  as  the  direct  fruit 
of  Spalding's  demonstration  to  the  Mormons  that  "one  of 
their  sacred  books  is  spurious."59  Miffed  when  the  Mormons 
refused  to  lie  down  because  he  said  "bang,"  Bishop  Spalding 
declared  that  his  project  "has  become  not  only  a  test  of 
the  competency  of  the  First  Presidency  of  the  Church,  but 
also  of  the  reliability  of  the  present  head  of  the  church," 
since  the  latter  had  been  unwise  enough  to  believe  Joseph 
Smith  instead  of  Spalding's  experts.60  But  it  is  high  time 
to  take  a  closer  look  at  the  famous  test. 


16 


Improvement  Era 


"Just  the  Test  We  Need" 

The  Reverend  Spalding's  book  is  dedicated  "To  my  many 
Mormon  friends — who  are  as  honest  searchers  after  the 
truth"  as  he  hopes  he  is  himself.  This  humane  and  generous 
approach  caught  the  Mormons  off  guard,  as  it  was  meant 
to  do.  "The  manifest  fairness  of  the  inquiry  and  the  appar- 
ently well  founded  conclusions,"  wrote  Professor  Pack, 
"came  as  somewhat  of  a  surprise  to  the  'Mormon'  people," 
who  were  not  accustomed  to  the  soft  sell.61  The  book  opens 
with  the  magnanimous  admission  that  others  have  been 
impetuous,  ill-informed,  discourteous,  and  unfair  in  judging 
the  Mormons,  and  that  the  time  has  come  for  a  cool,  fair- 
minded,  objective  testing  of  the  claims  of  the  Prophet.  In 
particular,  the  Book  of  Mormon  "has  never  had  the  serious 
examination  which  its  importance  demands."02  To  correct 
this  oversight,  the  author  then  launches  into  as  rigged  and 
spurious  a  test  of  prophetic  inspiration  as  was  ever  devised 
by  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees. 

Beginning  with  the  statement,  "If  the  Book  of  Mormon 
is  true,  it  is,  next  to  the  Bible,  the  most  important  book  in 
the  world,"  Spalding  notes  that  no  definitive  test  of  that 
book's  authenticity  is  possible  at  this  time,  but  suggests 
that  it  would  be  quite  possible  to  test  Joseph  Smith's  com- 
petence as  a  translator  by  examining  not  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon but  another  of  his  translations,  that  contained  in  the 
Pearl  of  Great  Price  under  the  title  of  the  Book  of  Abraham. 
In  this  document,  according  to  Bishop  Spalding,  "we  have 
just  the  test  we  need  of  Joseph  Smith's  accuracy  as  a  trans- 
lator."03 

And  he  is  right.  Here  we  have  at  our  disposal  all  the 
necessary  resources  for  making  an  almost  foolproof  test. 
Moreover,  it  was  Joseph  Smith  himself  who  first  proposed 
and  submitted  to  the  test.  When  the  papyri  of  the  Book  of 
Abraham  first  came  into  his  hands,  the  Prophet,  having 
learned  that  their  owner,  Michael  H.  Chandler,  had  gone 
out  of  his  way  to  solicit  the  opinions  of  the  experts  in  the 
big  cities  where  he  had  exhibited  his  mummies,  went  into 
a  room  by  himself  and  wrote  out  his  interpretation  of  some 
of  the  symbols;  then  he  invited  Mr.  Chandler  to  compare 
what  he  had  written  with  the  opinions  of  "the  most 
learned."  Chandler  did  so,  and  was  properly  impressed, 
voluntarily  giving  Joseph  Smith  a  signed  statement: 

".  .  .  to  make  known  to  all  who  may  be  desirous,  con- 
cerning the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Joseph  Smith,  Jun.,  in  de- 
ciphering the  ancient  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  characters  in 
my  possession,  which  I  have,  in  many  eminent  cities,  showed 
to  the  most  learned;  and,  from  the  information  that  I  could 
ever  learn,  or  meet  with,  I  find  that  of  Mr.  Joseph  Smith, 
Jun.,  to  correspond  in  the  most  minute  matters.  [Signed:] 
Michael  H.  Chandler."04 

Parley  P.  Pratt  suggests  that  Chandler  might  have  "on 
one  occasion  met  with  an  individual  who  was  enabled  to 
decipher  a  small  portion,  or,  at  least,  to  give  an  opinion 


of  what  he  supposed  its  meaning  to  be,"  since  nobody  in 
America  could  really  read  the  stuff.65  Orson  Pratt  put  it 
differently:  "Mr.  C [handler]  had  also  obtained  from 
learned  men  the  best  translation  he  could  of  some  few 
characters,  which  however,  was  not  a  translation,  but  more 
in  the  shape  of  their  ideas  with  regard  to  it,  their  acquaint- 
ance with  the  language  not  being  sufficient  to  enable  them 
to  translate  it  literally."66 

Strangely  enough,  this  last  statement  exactly  fits  Dr. 
Spalding's  own  eight  experts,  as  we  shall  see.  But  whatever 
the  competence  of  the  informants,  in  Chandler's  day  or 
Spalding's,  the  point  here  is  that  it  is  Joseph  Smith  who 
actually  suggests  and  carries  out  the  very  test  the  bishop 
devised.  It  was  also  Joseph  Smith's  idea,  it  will  be  recalled, 

"We  have  at  our  disposal 
all  the  necessary  resources 
for  making 
an  almost  foolproof  test." 


to  submit  copies  of  the  original  writing  from  the  plates  of 
the  Book  of  Mormon  to  the  best  scholars  in  America  for 
their  frank  opinion.  Granted  again  that  nobody  could  read 
the  "Anthon  Transcript"  either  then  or  today,  it  was  still 
very  important  for  the  leading  antiquarians  in  the  country 
to  be  given  a  chance  to  speak  their  piece,  lest  the  world  say 
forever  after:  "Joseph  Smith  never  dared  to  show  his  mythi- 
cal manuscript  to  real  scholars;  he  never  gave  the  experts  a 
chance  to  express  an  opinion  about  it!"  Whatever  opinions 
Professor  Anthon  expressed  about  the  transcript,  his  letters 
show  that  he  was  indeed  given  ample  opportunity  to  study 
the  characters  and  express  an  opinion  about  them. 

The  Prophet  Joseph,  then,  is  willing  enough  to  undergo 
the  most  objective  tests,  but  Bishop  Spalding  will  not  let 
him!  The  least  the  latter  could  have  done  would  have  been 
to  follow  the  classic  procedure  used  in  the  vindication  of 
the  cuneiform  scholars  many  years  before.  In  1857  that 
same  Ernest  Renan  who  was  loudly  declaring  Jesus  to  be  a 
myth  was  telling  the  public  that  nobody  could  read  cunei- 
form— that  the  Assyriologists  were  simply  fooling  themselves 
and  others.  So  to* put  everyone's  mind  at  ease,  Sir  George 
Grote  sent  a  cuneiform  text  to  four  scholars,  requesting 
each  one  to  give  his  interpretation  of  the  thing;  then  it  was 
a  simple  matter  to  compare  the  answers  and  let  the  public 
decide  whether  these  men  really  knew  what  they  were 
doing  or  not.67 

This  was  obviously  the  procedure  indicated  for  dealing 
with  the  Facsimiles.  Joseph  Smith  had  given  his  interpre- 
tation of  the  three  ancient  Egyptian  documents  and  had 
challenged  the  world  to  give  its  own  interpretation  of  the 


February  1968 


17 


same.  So  one  had  only  to  do  what  Sir  George  did,  that  is, 
send  the  three  Facsimiles  from  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price  to 
various  Egyptologists  without  comment,  requesting  each  one 
to  give  his  interpretation  of  them.  Then  Bishop  Spalding 
could  open  the  envelopes  publicly  and  invite  the  world  to 
compare  the  readings  of  the  experts  with  each  other  and 
with  Smith's  ideas.  What  could  be  fairer  and  simpler? 
Joseph  Smith  had  put  all  the  ingredients  for  a  clear  and 
foolproof  test  into  Spalding's  hands,  and  even  shown  him 
how  to  go  about  it — and  Spalding  threw  it  all  away!  R.  C. 
Webb  observed,  ".  .  .  it  might  have  occurred  to  an  'honest 
searcher  after  truth,'  ...  to  have  removed  the  captions  from 
these  figures.  .  .  .  Such  an  'honest  searcher'  should  have 
known  perfectly  well  that  'scholars'  would  object  to  and 
denounce  Smith  as  a  'scab  translator.'  "68  That  is,  it  was 
absolutely  imperative  to  get  the  experts'  opinions  before 
showing  them  Smith's  answer,  just  as  the  Prophet  had 
handed  his  interpretations  to  Chandler  before  he  knew  what 
the  others  had  said,  leaving  it  to  Mr.  Chandler  to  compare 
them. 

But  instead  of  calmly  asking  each  scholar  for  his  read- 
ing and  then  letting  the  public  judge  for  itself,  Bishop 
Spalding,  as  he  reports  it,  sent  "the  original  texts,  together 
with  his  [Smith's]  interpretations  ...  to  competent  schol- 
ars," with  the  idea  that  "if  they  declared  his  translation  to 
be  correct,  then  it  must  be  accepted  as  true."69  The  ques- 
tion put  to  the  specialists  was  not  "What  is  your  interpre- 
tation of  these  things?"  but  instead,  "Here  is  what  the 
notorious  Joseph  Smith  says  about  these  Egyptian  docu- 
ments; is  he  right  or  wrong?"  Stating  the  question  thus 
not  only  made  it  very  easy  for  the  doctors  to  answer  with 
a  terse  "yes"  or  "no,"  but  also  carefully  set  the  stage  to 
avoid  any  possible  danger  that  one  of  the  correspondents 
might  in  an  unguarded  moment  drop  a  word  in  favor  of 
Smith.  Professor  Pack  observed  that  since  Bishop  Spalding 
"has  evidently  written  for  opinions  to  a  large  number  of 
scholars"  it  might  be  in  order  to  ask  whether  any  replies 
more  or  less  favorable  to  Joseph  Smith  had  been  withheld, 
"whether  any  disharmonious  statements  may  have  been 
received  and  not  published,"  since  the  published  letters  are 
very  few  and  very  brief.70  Even  with  such  precautions,  the 
bishop  does  not  trust  his  jury,  but  prefaces  their  remarks 
with  17  pages  of  elaborate  argument  to  demonstrate  the 
impossibility  of  Joseph  Smith's  being  a  true  prophet  no 
matter  what  the  experts  may  say. 

Of  the  letters  that  make  up  his  book,  Dr.  Spalding  re- 
ports: "It  seemed  necessary  ...  to  copy  in  full  the  letters  from 
the  experts  exactly  as  I  secured  them."71  With  such  meticu- 
lous and  commendable  care  to  see  that  the  reader  knows  just 
what  is  going  on,  it  is  strange  indeed  that  the  most  impor- 
tant letter  of  all  is  missing,  namely,  the  covering  letter  that 
went  with  the  request  for  an  opinion  from  each  of  the 
authorities.  For  that  is  the  letter  to  which  they  are  replying, 


the  letter  that  set  up  the  experiment  and  determined  the 
state  of  mind  in  which  each  of  the  participants  approached 
the  problem.  "This  inquiry  you  claim  to  be  of  transcendent 
importance  to  the  world,"  wrote  Dr.  John  A.  Widtsoe  to 
Bishop  Spalding  later.  "If  you  are  sincere  in  this  .  .  .  you 
certainly  would  not  be  ready  to  pronounce  final  judgment 
on  the  basis  of  eight  or  eleven  letters  written  in  answer  to, 
only  Heaven  knows,  what  questions  you  propounded."72 
(Italics  added.)  As  a  scientist,  Dr.  Widtsoe  knew  that  the 
most  important  thing  in  writing  up  an  experiment  is  a 
minute  and  accurate  account  of  the  exact  procedure  followed 
— and  that  is  precisely  the  part  of  the  report  that  Dr. 
Spalding  chose  to  omit. 

Whatever  the  covering  letter  said  (and  none  was  ever 


"...  it  is  strange  indeed 
that  the  most  important  letter 
of  all  is  missing.  .  .  .': 


made  public),  it  or  they  completely  destroyed  that  atmo- 
sphere of  cool  and  detached  impartiality  which  Dr.  Spalding 
declared  himself  so  anxious  to  achieve.  Dr.  Mercer,  the 
leader  of  the  band,  admits  that  "ill-temper  was  shown" 
and  that  "several  of  the  scholars  were  disgusted  at  what 
they  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  imposition — 'righteous 
wrath,'  perhaps."73  But  he  insists  that  religion  has  nothing 
to  do  with  this  righteous  wrath — "the  letters  were  not 
prejudiced,"74  and  he  testifies  as  one  of  the  jury  "that 
Bishop  Spalding  did  not  in  any  way,  either  intentionally  or 
unintentionally,  prejudice  the  witnesses."75  All  he  had  to  do 
to  prejudice  the  whole  company  was  simply  to  mention 
the  name  of  Joseph  Smith,  but  no,  these  men,  though  three 
of  them  are  ministers  of  Spalding's  church,  expressed  only  "a 
scorn  which  was  due  to  the  crudeness  of  the  linguistic  work 
of  the  Prophet.  .  .  .  They  condemned  it  purely  on  linguis- 
tic grounds."70  To  labor  the  point,  since  Mercer  admits 
that  it  is  a  very  important  one,  "the  animus  evident  in  the 
communications  of  Sayce  and  Petrie  is  purely  because  of 
linguistic,  and  not  because  of  religious  reasons."77  Why 
linguistic  animus  in  a  field  in  which  the  experts  are  con- 
stantly correcting  each  other's  translations?  Is  scientific 
animus  any  less  prejudiced  than  religious  animus?  Mercer 
isn't  kidding  anybody:  by  bringing  Joseph  Smith  into  the 
picture  from  the  very  first,  Bishop  Spalding  effectively 
loaded  the  dice — from  then  on  only  one  game  was  possible. 

Some  Basic  Misconceptions 

Not  only  do  all  of  Spalding's  jury  labor  under  certain 
serious  misconceptions,  but  their  verdict  is  in  every  case 


18 


Improvement  Era 


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February  1968 


19 


determined  by  those  misconceptions.  ".  .  .  all  the 
learned  doctors,"  wrote  Osborne  J.  P.  Widtsoe,  ".  .  .  seem 
to  have  labored  under  the  impression  that  the  original 
manuscript  of  the  Book  of  Abraham  was  available,  that 
the  three  fac-similes  .  .  .  constitute  that  original  manuscript, 
and  that  the  inscriptions  on  those  fac-similes  were  'written 
by  his  [Abraham's]  own  hand.'  To  one  who  is  acquainted 
with  Church  history,  there  could  be  made  no  representation 
farther  from  the  truth  than  this  of  Bishop  Spalding's  con- 
cerning the  Book  of  Abraham."78  Yet  it  was  on  these  three 
incorrect  assumptions  that  the  experts  based  all  their  argu- 
ments against  Joseph  Smith.   Consider  the  three  points. 

First  of  all,  Joseph  Smith  did  not  draw  the  Facsimiles; 
they  were  the  work  of  a  professional  wood  engraver,  Reuben 
Hedlock,  who  undertook  the  job  on  February  23,  1842,  at 
the  Prophet's  request,  and  finished  it  just  a  week  later.79 
It  was,  as  we  shall  see,  a  very  creditable  piece  of  work,  but 
the  miserable  copies  that  Bishop  Spalding  circulated  among 
his  jury  of  experts  made  a  very  poor  impression,  and  their 
raw  clumsiness  was  in  every  case  attributed  to  the  Prophet 
himself.  Some  critics  have  noted  that  some  of  the  numbers 
that  have  been  added  to  Facsimile  2  are  upside  down,  and 
have  again  assumed  that  Joseph  Smith  put  them  that  way; 
but  as  R.  C.  Webb  points  out,  "There  is  no  evidence  before 
us  that  Smith  is  responsible  for  it."80 

The  commonest  objection  to  the  authenticity  of  the 
Facsimiles  is  that  they  are  of  too  late  a  date  to  have  been 
drawn  by  Abraham.  But  Joseph  Smith  never  claimed  that 
they  were  autographic  manuscripts  or  that  they  dated  from 
the  time  of  Abraham.  ".  .  .  with  W.  W.  Phelps  and  Oliver 
Cowdery  as  scribes,"  he  writes  as  of  July  1835,  "I  com- 
menced the  translation  of  some  of  the  characters  or  hiero- 
glyphics, and  much  to  our  joy  found  that  one  of  the  rolls 
contained  the  writings  of  Abraham,  another  the  writings  of 
Joseph  of  Egypt."81  (Italics  added.)  It  is  and  was  common 
to  refer  to  any  author's  works  as  his  writings,  whether  he 
penned  them  himself  or  dictated  them  to  others.  The  Book 
of  Mormon  and  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price  itself,  for  example, 
are  both  writings  of  Joseph  Smith,  though  written  down 
entirely  by  the  hands  of  other  men  and  women. 

Men  of  such  importance  as  Abraham  and  Joseph  in 
Egypt  would  surely  have  followed  the  accepted  custom  and 
dictated  their  "writings"  to  scribes.  The  system  is  clear  in 
the  book  of  Jarom,  verse  14,  where  we  are  referred  to  "the 
writings  of  the  kings,  or  those  which  they  caused  to  be 
written,"  and  elsewhere  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  we  are 
told  of  writings  even  "by  the  hand  of"  Mormon,  Nephi, 
Moses,  Omni,  and  others,  and  even  "by  the  finger  of  God" 
(Alma  10:2),  and  also  of  a  letter  of  Giddianhi  sealed  with 
his  own  hand — yet  the  plates  from  which  the  Book  of 
Mormon  was  translated  were  largely  the  work  of  Mormon 
and  were  never  seen  by  some  of  the  men  whose  very  hands 
supposedly  had  written  them.    As  George  Q.  Cannon  ex- 


plained, "These  constituted  the  writings  of  Abraham — the 
text  by  Abraham's  own  hand;  though  there  is  nothing  to  show 
that  this  text  had  not  been  widely  copied,  and  that  this  par- 
ticular [manuscript]  may  not,  in  fact,  have  been  a  copy  500 
years  after  Abraham's  day."82  J.  M.  Sjodahl  assumes  that  it 
was  a  copy:  "As  the  work  proceeded,  he  [Joseph  Smith]  be- 
came convinced  that  one  of  the  rolls  of  papyrus  contained  a 
copy  of  a  book  written  by  Abraham."83  And  Osborne  Widt- 
soe opined  that  "this  particular  roll  [the  Book  of  Abraham] 
may  or  may  not  have  been  written  by  Abraham's  own  hand. 
Possibly  it  was  a  copy  of  Abraham's  original  manuscript."84 
From  the  way  the  expression  is  used  in  the  scriptures 
and  by  the  brethren,  it  is  clear  that  when  a  piece  was  said 
to  be  by  its  author's  "own  hand,"  what  is  meant  is  that 

"Joseph  Smith 
never  claimed  they 
were  autographic  manuscripts 
.  ...  of  Abraham." 

he  originally  wrote  or  dictated  it.  Even  when  Wilford 
Woodruff  reports  in  his  journal  for  February  18,  1842,  that 
"Joseph  the  Seer  has  presented  us  some  of  the  Book  of 
Abraham,  which  was  written  by  his  own  hand  .  .  . ,"  it  means 
that  the  Book  of  Abraham  is  not  merely  a  book  about 
Abraham,  of  which  many  are  known  in  the  apocryphal 
literature,  but  one  actually  written  by  him.  Actually,  what 
the  Prophet  "presented"  to  the  Saints,  who  had  seen  the 
papyri  a  hundred  times,  was  his  own  rendering  of  the  book, 
which  of  course  was  not  literally  written  by  the  hand  of 
Abraham. 

It  was  only  to  be  expected,  human  nature  being  what 
it  is,  that  the  announcement  that  the  writings  of  Abraham 
and  Joseph  had  been  found  with  some  mummies  should 
have  promptly  given  rise  to  the  rumor  that  Joseph  Smith 
was  in  possession  of  "the  bodies  of  Abraham,  Abimelech, 
(the  king  of  the  Philistines),  Joseph,  who  was  sold  into 
Egypt,  &c,  &c."  And  it  was  just  as  natural  that  the  enemies 
of  the  Prophet  should  circulate  the  charge  "that  the  pur- 
chasers of  these  antiquities"  were  spreading  such  rumors 
"for  the  purpose  of  attracting  the  attention  of  the  multitude, 
and  gulling  the  unwary."  These  reports,  the  Prophet  wrote 
in  December  1835,  were  "utterly  false.  Who  these  ancient 
inhabitants  of  Egypt  were,  I  do  not  at  present  say."85  He 
was  not  leaping  at  conclusions  or  claiming  revelations  on 
all  things;  indeed,  the  mummies  did  not  particularly  interest 
him,  and  he  only  consented  to  let  Chandler  have  the  high 
price  he  asked  for  them  because  he  could  procure  the  papyri 
in  no  other  way:  ".  .  .  Mr.  Chandler  told  him  that  he 
would  not  sell  the  writings,  unless  he  could  sell  the  mum- 


20 


Improvement  Era 


mies.  .  .  ."86  The  mere  sight  of  the  mummies  did  not 
excite  Joseph  Smith,  and  neither  did  the  rolls  of  papyri 
hefore  he  knew  what  was  on  them:  they  were  just  "some- 
thing rolled  up  .  .  .  which,  when  examined,  proved  to  be 
two  rolls  of  papyrus."  It  was  only  after  the  mummies  had 
been  bought  and  the  rolls  examined  that  the  brethren 
discovered,  "much  to  our  joy,"  how  important  they  were.87 
"The  characters,"  Joseph  Smith  reported,  "are  such  as  you 
find  upon  coffins  of  mummies — hieroglyphs,  etc.,"  that  is, 
quite  ordinary  stuff,  to  look  at  them.88  It  is  amusing  to  see 
how  the  Spalding  specialists  petulantly  declare  the  Fac- 
similes, which  they  confess  themselves  unable  to  read,  to 
be  to  all  appearances  nothing  but  perfectly  ordinary  Egyp- 
tian documents.  Joseph  Smith  could  have  told  them  that. 

The  Prophet  made  no  dogmatic  statement  as  to  how 
the  writings  got  in  with  the  mummies,  and  Church  mem- 
bers speculated  freely  on  the  subject.  "It  is  supposed," 
wrote  Parley  P.  Pratt,  "they  were  preserved  in  the  family 
of  the  Pharaoh  and  afterwards  hid  up  in  the  embalmed 
body  of  the  female  with  whom  they  were  found."89  The 
reporter  of  a  local  newspaper,  after  being  shown  the  mum- 
mies by  Mother  Smith,  wrote  a  satirical  account  of  how 
Joseph  in  Egypt  had  a  roll  of  papyrus,  delivered  to  him  in  a 
wooden  box — by  an  angel,  of  course — "which  was  to  be 
buried  by  him  with  the  family  of  one  of  the  patriarchs  .  ,  . 
Joseph  .  .  .  depositing  the  case  on  the  Queen's  breast,  where 
it  lay  until  the  discovery  of  the  'brass  plates'.  .  .  ."so 
Behind  the  usual  garbling  of  the  familiar  motifs,  one  may 
detect  another  version  of  Brother  Pratt's  speculation. 

Actually,  ancient  Egyptian  documents  have  been  found 
buried  with  mummies  of  later  date.  The  manuscript  of  the 
famous  Ramesseum  Dramatic  Text,  written  to  be  buried 
with  a  king,  was  found  laid  away  on  the  mummy  of  a 
private  citizen  200  years  after  the  time  it  was  written — 
and  even  then  it  was  copied  down  from  still  older  sources. 
"How  this  manuscript  .  .  .  came  into  the  private  library 
of  the  .  .  .  Theban  in  whose  grave  it  was  found,"  wrote 
Professor  Sethe,  "is  a  question  which  of  course  can  never 
be  answered."91  It  may  not  be  without  significance  that 
our  Pearl  of  Great  Price  mummies  were  also  found  in 
Thebes,  and  that  some  other  mummies  found  there,  notably 
those  accompanied  by  those  rare  and  peculiar  documents 
known  as  hypocephali  (Fac.  2  is  a  hypocephalus),  had 
lying  on  their  breasts  just  such  rolls  of  papyri,  apparently 
documents  of  considerable  importance,  but  not  well  enough 
preserved  to  be  read.92  Mummies  themselves  were  "often 
re-embalmed  by  the  priests  and  toted  from  tomb  to  tomb — 
for  centuries."93  Furthermore,  when  documents  became 
worn  out  from  age  or  use  it  was  quite  proper  to  make  a 
copy,  which  was  thenceforth  regarded  exactly  as  if  it  were 
the  original  writings.94 

Bishop  Spalding's  announcement  that  he  submitted  to 
the  specialists  "the  original  text,"  and  that  "the  original 


texts  with  the  Prophet's  translation  are  available  for  our 
investigation"  is  simply  not  true.  It  makes  all  the  difference 
in  the  world  what  particular  text  a  scholar  has  to  work 
with,  as  a  comparison  of  the  recently  discovered  original 
of  Facsimile  1  with  the  copies  of  it  that  Spalding  sent  to  the 
critics  should  make  clear  to  anyone.  O 

(To  be  continued) 


FOOTNOTES 


42Maxence  de  Rochemonteix,  Bibliotheque  Egyptologique  (Paris,  1894),  Vol.  3, 
p.   3. 

■"A.  H.   Gardiner,  Journal  of  Egyptian  Archaeology,   Vol.   9   (1924),   p.   6. 

'"This  theme  was  often  discussed  by  G.  Maspero,  e.g.  in  Bibliotheque  Egypto- 
logique, Vol.  29,  pp.  269-276;  Vol.  1  (1893),  pp.  viff,  in  which  Maspero  dis- 
cusses his  own  changing  ideas.  On  the  dangerous  appeal  of  Egypt  to  amateurs, 
A.  Weigall,  Tutankhamen  and  Other  Essays  (London,  1923),  Ch.  3,  and  The 
Glory   of  the   Pharaohs    (London,    1923),    Ch.   5. 

"SR.  C.  Webb,  Era,  Vol.  17,  p.  565.  Webb  paints  an  intellectual  portrait 
of  Spalding  in  this   long  article,   pp.   565ff. 

■»°B.   H.  Roberts,   Deseret  News,   Dec.    19,    1912,   p.    11. 

4TWebb,  op.  cit.,  pp.  568ff,  577;  the  quote  is  from  p.  569. 

^Roberts,  Era,  Vol.    16,  p.   310. 

49Osborne  J.  P.  Widtsoe,  Era,  Vol.  16,  p.  594,  illustrating  this  by  examples 
on  pp.  595-97.  -  .  . 

mNew  York  Times,   Magazine  Section,    Dec.   29,    1912,   p.   3. 

^Frederick  J.  Pack,   Era,  Vol.    16,   pp.  333-34. 

G2R.   C.  Webb,  Era,  Vol.   17,  p.  566,  quoting  from  Spalding's   Utah  Survey. 

^New  York  Times,  loc.  cit.,  p.   1. 

"J.  M.  Sjodahl,  Era,  Vol.  16,  p.   1100. 

KN.  L.  Nelson,  Era,  Vol.   16,  p.  603. 

^Webb,  op.  cit.,  p.  565. 

^Editorial  in  Era,  Vol.   16,  p.  378;  cf.  New  York  Times,   loc.  cit.,  p.   1. 

r>8R.  C.  Webb.  See  the  remarks  of  E.  J.  Banks,  Literary  Digest,  July  10,  1915, 
p.  67. 

59The  Banks  article  (see  above)  is  fully  discussed  by  Sterling  B.  Talmage  in 
Era,   Vol.    16,    pp.    770-76. 

«F.   S.   Spalding,   Era,  Vol.   16,   p.   611. 

•^Pack,  op.  cit.,  p.  334. 

62Spalding,  Joseph  Smith  as  a  Translator,  p.  4. 

wIbid.,  p.  18. 

^Documentary  History  of  the  Church,  Vol.  2,  p.  235,  from  The  L.D.S.  Mes- 
senger &  Advocate,  Vol.  3   (Dec.   1835),   p.  235. 

^Parley  P.  Pratt,  Millennial  Star,  Vol.  3  (July  1842),   p.  46. 

69Orson  Pratt,  Journal  of  Discourses,   Vol.  20   (1878),  p.  65. 

07 Encyclopedia  Britannica,  XI  Edition  (1910),  Vol.  6,  p.  308  (s.v.  "Chron- 
ology"). 

ssWebb,  Era,  Vol.  16,  p.  1078. 

69Spalding,  op.  cit.,  p.   13. 

70Pack,  op.  cit.,  p.  335. 

^Spalding,    Era,  Vol.    16,   p.   611. 

72John  A.  Widtsoe,  Era,  Vol.   16,   p.  617. 

73S.  A.  B.  Mercer,   The  Utah  Survey,  Vol.  30,  p.   12. 

■"Ibid.,  p.   10. 

^Ibid.,  p.  7. 

™Ibid.,  p.   9. 

"'"Ibid.,  p.  9. 

78Osborne  J.  P.  Widtsoe,  Era,  Vol.    16,   p.   599. 

^DHC,  Vol.   4,   p.  518. 

8°Webb,  Era,  Vol.  17,  p.  324. 

^DHC,  Vol.  2,   p.  236. 

S2George  Q.  Cannon,  quoted  by  N.  L.   Nelson,  op.   cit.,   p.   606. 

^Sjodahl,  op.  cit.,  p.   1103. 

«*Osborne  J.  P.  Widtsoe,  op.  cit.,   p.  600. 

&DHC,  Vol.  2,  p.  348. 

86Orson  Pratt,  Journal  of  Discourses,  Vol.  20,  p.  65. 

s-'DHC,  Vol.  2,   p.  236. 

&lbid.,  p.  348. 

89Parley  P.  Pratt,  Millennial  Star,  Vol.  3   (July   1842),  p.  46. 

^Warsaw  Signal,  Sept.  19,  1845,  p.  2,  cited  by  C.  D.  McOmber,  A  Study  of 
the  Criticism  of  the  Book  of  Abraham  (unpublished  Master's  thesis,  Brigham 
Young  University,  Provo,   1960),   pp.    17f. 

91K.  Sethe,  Dramatische  Texte  zu  altdgyptischen  Mysterienspielen  (Leipzig, 
1928),  Vol.  2,  p.  99. 

9LThis   is   discussed   below. 

93C.  W.  Ceram,  A  Picture  History  of  Archaeology  (London:  Thames  & 
Hudson,  1959),  p.  138. 

94A  classical  instance  is  found  in  the  introduction  to  the  famous  Shabaka 
Stone,  where  the  king  "orders  a  copy  to  be  made  which  should  be  better  than 
the  earlier  [original]  one  [lit.,  'than  its  earlier  condition']." — K.  Sethe,  op. 
cit.,  Vol.  1,  pp.  4,  8,  21f.  "Many  very  ancient  books  appeared  in  later 
transcriptions  throughout  Egyptian  history,"  e.g.,  the  Admonitions  of  Ptah- 
Hotep;  "if,  then,  in  similar  fashion,  Abraham  also  wrote  a  book,  there  is  no 
essential  absurdity  in  the  supposition  that  a  copy  of  it  was  found  in  the  tomb 
of  some  persons  who  died  even  1,000  or  1,500  years  after  his  day." — R.  C.  Webb, 
Era,  Vol.  17,  p.  314.  Whatever  others,  such  as  Wilford  Woodruff,  may  have 
thought  as  to  the  age  of  the  Facsimiles,  Joseph  Smith  left  no  clear  pronounce- 
ment. 


February  1968 


21 


m-u/'i-m-iiw'-iwi-nw-  »/*////» -^in//< -./////)— //»//<— //////<■ -/////(].— mz WEMMEMIEEMEMEMEM 


Prepared  by  the 
research 

department    of  the 
Genealogical 
Society 


Major  Genealogical 
Record  Sources  in 


^^-  f#/y/ — J////J — j*iiiji — iff  jjif — 'ijjy/u — >i/n  i/i — tin  >  i> — /iifiif  ^ —  fuii/ —  if//f/^ — /J/i)/* — t/n/f# — //////fj  — ////i//y — /i///f// — mj|//f  —  iiiiij// — >//iif^^ —  iu//7>f — >fi 


The  chart  and  table  contain 
major  genealogical  record 
sources  of  Sweden.  The 
major  sources  are  listed, 
together  with  type  of  rec- 
ord, period  covered,  type 
of  information  given,  and 
source  availability.     Table 


A  shows  at  a  glance  the 
record  sources  available  for 
a  research  problem  in  a 
particular  century.  Table 
B  provides  more  detailed 
information  about  the  ma- 
jor records  available.  For 
example,     if     a     pedigree 


problem  is  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  a  quick 
indication  can  be  obtained 
from  Table  A  of  the 
sources  available  for  that 
period.  Reference  to  Table 
B  will  then  provide  more 
complete  information. 


MAJOR  SOURCE  AVAILABILITY  BY  CENTURY 


CENTURY 


TYPE  OF  RECORD 

15th 

16th 

17th 

18th 

19th 

20th 

1.    Emigration  Records 

2.    Lutheran  Membership  Movements 

3.    Lutheran  Clerical  Survey 

4.    Lutheran  Catechistical  Records 

5.    Probate  Records 

6.    Land  Records 

7.    Lutheran  Communion  Records 

8.    Census  Records 

— 

9.    Tax  Lists 

10.    Court  Records 

11.    Lutheran  Parish  Registers 

12.    Trade  Guild  Records 

13.    Lutheran  Church  Accounts 

14.    Provincial  Accounts 

15.    Military  Records 

16.    House  of  Nobility 

TABLE  A 


i 

s 
j 


MfM/Ml 


^l-iiiiil-iii(/i<--iilf/fi--iffllli\--//fiiii-iji|i/H--ii||i/i-iillli>—  tfflti/* — f//f\i/^  — f/f/ft/- —  'f/Ufil—  f/fffl/--  Ul/// —  uOffi — t/tff««  — *fif///* — f/f//i — //f///i  — -///Ay/ — ■///<///  — 


22 


Improvement  Era 


y* —  w/7/i' — mm* — jf/ii// — *iMf/J — /iifi/->  iBiiy — "Miif* —  >»iiftf/# — wiii/f — niitf — -jfi///^ —  *mj//#. — yiiniif — Mtffii* — «inw» — 'imin — nuin— "UBiu — nini— intlTi111"*^^" 


Illustrated  by  Sherry  Thompson 


f/i-  >//if///~  i///i)i-iip-ii//iiii-/Hii<ii-^)ii-'iniii'--iiii[ii-  mm 


—  iniiHilu-  mEM=dMt3Mi  IE:  life 


MAJOR  SOURCES  CHRONOLOGICALLY  ARRANGED 

TYPE  OF 
RECORD 

PERIOD 
COVERED 

TYPE  OF  INFORMATION  GIVEN 

AVAILABILITY 

1.    EMIGRATION 
RECORDS 
(Emigrations 
handlingar) 

1876-1913 

Larsson   Brothers    &    Company    Emigration 
Agency:    correspondence    between    the    emi- 
gration agency  and  persons  inquiring  about 
emigration;    names    of    correspondents    and 
their  residences  in  Sweden;  sometimes  names 
of    relatives    and    their    residences    both    in 
Sweden  and  abroad 

Provincial  archives,  Goteborg;  on 
film  (Genealogical  Society) 

Earliest 
from  1869 

City  Police  Records:  lists  of  persons  leaving 
Sweden  through  various  ports,  their  names, 
places  of  residence  or  places  of  birth,  ages 
or  dates  of  birth,  destination  in  foreign  land, 
relationships  of  persons  traveling  as  a  family 
unit 

City  and  provincial  archives;  some 
on  film   (GS) 

1851  to 
present 

Government  Emigration  Records:  names  of 
persons    emigrating,    their    ages,    sometimes 
year   or   date    of    birth,    occupations,    places 
of  residence  at  time  of  emigration,  country 
of  destination,  relationships 

1851-1940  on  film  (GS) ;  1851  to 
present,  National  Central  Bureau 
of  Statistics,  Stockholm 

18th  C  to 
19th  C 

Passport  Journals:  information  varies;  name 
of  person  obtaining  passport,  date  when  ob- 
tained, destination,  occupation 

On  film  (GS);  city  of  departure; 
provincial  archives;  Royal  War  Ar- 
chives, Stockholm 

2.    LUTHERAN 
MEMBER- 
SHIP 

MOVEMENTS 
(Flyttnings- 
langder) 

Certificates  of 
Moving 
(Flyttnings- 
attes'ter) 

Earliest  in 
the  late 
17th  C; 
more 
frequent 
1800  to 
present 

Names  of  parsons  moving  in  or  out  of  the 
parish,  places  of  former  and  new  residence, 
marital  status,  sometimes  date  and  place  of 
birth 

Earliest  to  1860  on  film  (GS);  pro- 
vincial archives;  1860  to  present 
in  local  parish  custody 

Approx 

1750; 

more 

frequent 

1800  to 

present 

Same  as  above  but  sometimes  with  more  de- 
tail; information  varies 

Same  as  above 

3.    LUTHERAN 
CLERICAL 
SURVEY 
(Household 
Examination 
Rolls)  _ 
(Husforhors- 
fdngder) 

Approx 
1686-1895 

Names    of    parishioners,    dates    of    birth    or 
ages,   places  of  birth,   occupations,   relation- 
ships, marriage  data,  dates  of  death,  places 
of    residence,   arrivals   and    removals,   legiti- 
macy  of  children,  marital  status,   rating  on 
religious   knowledge;   information  varies,   es- 
pecially before  1800;  evolved  from  Lutheran 
catechistical  records   (see  no.  4)    and  super- 
seded by  the  parish  records  (see  item  imme- 
diately following) 

Earliest    to    approx    1890    on    film 
(GS) ;  earliest  to  approx  1860,  pro- 
vincial archives;  1860-1895,  local 
parish  custody 

Parish  Records 

(Forsamlings- 

b'dcker) 

1896  to 
present 

Succeeded  the  clerical   survey;    the   informa- 
tion recorded  is  approximately  the  same  as 
the  clerical  survey 

Local  parish  custody 

Abstracts  for 
each  ten-year 
period 

1860  to 
present 

Abstracts  taken  from  the  above  two  records 
for  statistical  purposes;   information  similar 
to  above  but  more  brief 

1860,  1870,  1880,  1890  on  film  (GS) ; 
1860  to  present,  National  Central 
Bureau  of  Statistics,  Stockholm 

TABLE  B 


— tf/y»» — //ff/tf — will ii — fif/ 1 p - w/yi— mi/f/r — <t i itu^^inw- —  wwhwwi,  -*\m  -min-  m*-  -  "//ft*  -'</m-  //flu  -///ho-///iih  - 


w^ 


i—\MAii  —mm  -<///»-n///-  jJEJjjjjj  — «#/jy# — ii  ju//» — «#n//#i — ■■!#/ 1 1 —  i/i/fliu  -if//////  —  n///iiu-  /i//fli'-fiii/Hi(///Hi«V 

^^^~  ■  '  I     I         I     1^11  1-1...     I    I  in  I  ...  ....  ■  ..I-  ii.  I     "      '  S^M 

February  1968 


23 


ARCHIVE  ADDRESSES 

Landsarkivet  in  Uppsala  com- 
prises the  Ian  of  Stockholm, 
Uppsala,  Sbdermanland,  Ore- 
bro,  Vastmanland  and  Kop- 
parberg.  Address :  Slottet, 
Uppsala. 

Landsarkivet  in  Vadstena 
comprises  the  Ian  of  Ostergbt- 
land,  Jbnkbping,  Kronoberg 
and  Kalmar.  Address :  Slottet, 
Vadstena. 

Landsarkivet  in  Visby  for 
the  Ian  of  Gotland.  Address: 
Visborgsgatan  1,  Visby. 
Landsarkivet  in  Lund  com- 
prises the  Ian  of  Blekinge, 
Kristianstad,  Malmohus  and 
Halland.  Address :  Dalby- 
vagen  4,  Lund. 

Landsarkivet  in  Gbteborg 
comprises  the  Ian  of  Gbteborg 
och  Bohus,  Alvsborg,  Skara- 
borg  and  Varmland.  Address : 
Geijersgatan  1,  Gbteborg. 
Landsarkivet  in  Harnbsand 
comprises  the  Ian  of  Gavle- 
borg,  Vasternorrland,  Vas- 
terbotten  and  Norrbotten. 
Address :  Nybrogatan  17, 
Harnbsand. 

Landsarkivet  in  ostersund 
for  the  Ian  of  Jamtland.  Ad- 
dress: Museiplan,  Ostersund. 
Stadsarkivet  in  Stockholm  for 
the  city  of  Stockholm.  Ad- 
dress :  Kungsklippan  61, 
Stockholm  8. 

Stadsarkivet  in  Malmb  for 
the  city  of  Malmb.  Address: 
Ostergatan  32,  Malmb  C. 
Stadsarkivet  in  Boras  for  the 
city  of  Boras.  Address :  Stads- 
huset,  Boras.  (All  church 
records  in  Boras,  however, 
have  been  transferred  to 
Landsarkivet  in  Gbteborg.) 
Stadsarkivet  in  Vasteras.  Ad- 
dress: Stadshuset,  Vasteras. 
(All  church  records  in  Vas- 
teras, however,  have  been 
transferred  to  Landsarkivet 
in  Uppsala.) 

Riksarkivet  (The  National 
Archives).  Address:  Arkiv- 
gatan  3,  Stockholm. 
Kammararkivet  (The  Carri- 
er al  Archives).  Address: 
Birger  Jarlstorg  13,  Stock- 
holm 2. 

Kungliga  Utrikesdepartemen- 
tets  arkiv  (The  Archives  of 
the  Foreign  Office).  Address: 
Gustaf  Adolfs  torg,  Stock- 
holm 16. 

Riddarhusets  arkiv  (The  Ar- 
chives of  the  House  of  Nobil- 
ity) .  Address :  Riddarhuset, 
Stockholm  2. 

Statistiska  centralbyrans  ar- 
kiv (The  Archives  of  the 
Central  Bureau  of  Statistics) . 
Address :  Linnegatan  87, 
Stockholm  O. 

Kungliga  Krigsarkivet  (The 
War  Archives).  Address: 
Banergatan  64,  Stockholm  5. 


TYPE  OF 
RECORD 

PERIOD 
COVERED 

TYPE  OF  INFORMATION  GIVEN 

AVAILABILITY 

4.    LUTHERAN 
CATECHISTI- 
CAL 
RECORDS 

(Katikismi- 
langder) 

Approx 

1686-1750, 

usually 

southern 

Sweden 

only 

Names  of  certain  parishioners,  occupations, 
residences,      relationships,      marital     status, 
sometimes   ages;   superseded   by   the  clerical 
survey  (see  item  no.  3) 

On  film  (GS) ;  provincial  archives 

5.    PROBATE 
RECORDS 
(Bouppteck- 
ningar 

Approx 
1660  to 
present 

Name  of  deceased,  sometimes  date  of  death; 
names    of    heirs,    ages,    sometimes    dates    of 
birth;     residences,    guardians,     relationships, 
real  and  personal  property  and  its  distribu- 
tion 

Approx     1660-1860    on   film    (GS) ; 
1660  to  present,   provincial  or  city 
archives,  district  court  archives,  cir- 
cuit   courts    of    appeal     (nobility) 

6.    LAND 
RECORDS 

(Jordebocker) 

Approx 
1630-1750 

Names    of    land    owners    and    tenants,    resi- 
dences, valuation  of  land 

On  film   (GS) ;  provincial  archives; 
copy  at  Cameral  Archive  (Kammar- 
arkivet), Stockholm 

7.    LUTHERAN 
COMMUNION 
RECORDS 

(Kommunion- 
langder) 

Earliest 
from  1628, 
generally 
18th-19th  C 

Names    of    communicants,    residences,    rela- 
tionships, marital  status,  occupations,  some- 
times   ages;    superseded    by    clerical    survey 
(see  item  no.  3) 

On  film  (GS);  provincial  archives 

8.    CENSUS 
RECORDS 

(Mantals- 
I'dngder) 

1620  to 
present 

Name  of  head  of  household,  residence,  some- 
times names  of  wife  and  children  over  age 
15   and   other   relatives,   especially  since   ap- 
prox 1900;  information  varies  widely,  but  the 
later  the   census,  the  more  detailed   the   in- 
formation 

Earliest  to  1750,  then  each  5  years 
to  1860  on  film  (GS);  1620  to  pres- 
ent,   provincial    archives;    copy    at 
Cameral  Archives,  Stockholm 

9.    TAX  LISTS 
(Boskaps- 
rdkningar) 

1620-1642 

Names  of  landowners  and  tenants 

On  film   (GS) ;   provincial  archives; 
copy   at  Cameral   Archives,    Stock- 
holm 

10.    COURT 
RECORDS 

(Dombocker) 

Approx 
1620  to 
present 

Decisions    in    criminal    trials,    transfers    of 
real  estate,  marriage  settlements,  guardian- 
ships,    mortgages,     miscellaneous     judiciary 
items 

1620-1860    on    film     (GS);    earlier 
records    of    the    magistrate    courts 
(Radhusratt)  and  the  assize  courts 
(Haradsratt)  at  provincial  archives; 
copies _at  the  circuit  courts  of  appeal 
(Hovratt) ;   more   recent  records   in 
local  court  custody 

11.    LUTHERAN 
PARISH 
REGISTERS 

(KyrkobbckerJ 

Earliest 
1607, 
generally 
1686  to 
present 

Births:  names  of  persons  born  and  christened, 
dates  of  birth  and  christening,  legitimacy  of 
children,  names  of  parents,  father's  occupa- 
tion and  residence,  sometimes  age  of  mother; 
names  of  witnesses  at  christening  and  their 
residence,    occupations,    sometimes    relation- 
ships 

Marriages:   names  of  candidates,  their  places 
of  residence  and  date  of  marriage,  sometimes 
ages    and    names    of    parents    or    sponsors, 
also  information  regarding  former  marriages 

Deaths:    names   of  deceased,   their  dates   of 
death  and   burial,   ages,   places   of   residence 
at    time    of    death,    occupations,    conditions, 
causes  of  death;   sometimes  biographical  in- 
formation, particularly  in  Vastmanland  and 
Kopparberg  Counties 

Earliest    to    approx    1860    on    film 
(GS);   provincial   archives;    1860   to 
present,  local  parish  custody 

NOTE.     Transcripts    1860-1947    at 
National   Central   Bureau   of    Stat- 
istics,  Stockholm;   transcripts    1860- 
1892  on  film  (GS) 

12.    TRADE 
GUILD 
RECORDS 

(Skrahand- 
lingar) 

1604-1890 

Minutes,  names  of  members  and  those  seek- 
ing   membership;    sometimes    proof    of    age, 
parentage,  and  birthplace 

On   film    (GS);    Nordiska    Museet, 
Stockholm;    some    in    various    city 

archives 

13.    LUTHERAN 
CHURCH 
ACCOUNTS 
(Kyrkordken- 
skaper) 

Earliest 
from 
16th  C, 
generally 
from  middle 
of  17th  C 
to  18th  C 

Accounts     of     expenses     and     contributions; 
names  and  residence  of  persons  who  receive 
payment  for  services  rendered  to  the  church; 
names  and  residence  of  persons  contributing 
monetary   gifts  at  church   functions  such  as 
christenings,  weddings,  and  burials;  relation- 
ships 

On  film  (GS);  provincial  archives 

14.    PROVINCIAL 
ACCOUNTS 
(Landskaps- 
handlingar) 

1541-1633 

Names    and    residences    of    landowners    and 
tenants 

On   film    (GS) ;    National   Archives 
(Riksarkivet),  Stockholm 

15.    MILITARY 
RECORDS 

(Milit'dra- 
handlingar) 

1537  to 
present 

Rotations  and  inductions:    names  of  military 
personnel,  residence 

General  muster  rolls:  names  of  personnel  of 
all    ranks,    usually    province    of    birth,    age, 
death  or  discharge;  information  varies 

Pension   and  salary   lists:    names  of  officers 
and   non-commissioned   officers   only;   some- 
times names  of  relatives;  monetary  data 

Biographical  records:    names  of  officers  and 
civilian    employees    only;    dates    and    places 
of    birth,    marriage,    and    death;    parentage; 
appointments;  information  varies 

1537-1869    on    film    (GS);    1537   to 
present,      Royal       War      Archives 
(Kungliga   Krigsarkivet),    Stock- 
holm; local  enrollment  offices 

NOTE.  Refer  to  the  various  print- 
ed regimental  histories  and  to  Lew- 
enhaupt's    works    "The    Officers    of 
King     Karl      XII"      (Karl     XII:s 
Ojjicerare) 

16.    HOUSE  OF 
NOBILITY 

(Riddarhuset) 

15th  C 
to  present 

Names  of  those  introduced  and  accepted  into 
the  House  of  Nobility;  pedigrees  listing  their 
progenitors  to   the  earliest   known  ancestor; 
names  of  spouse  and  children;  dates  of  birth, 
marriage,  and  death;  residences,  offices    and 
commissions  received;   occupations;  relation- 
ships 

Some  in  print  and  on  film   (GS) ; 
the   Archives   of  the  House  of  No- 
bility [Riddarhusets  arkiv),  Stock- 
holm 

NOTE —                       There  are  many  rural  and  city  parishes  that  have  been  given  the  right  to  retain  their 
church   books  at   the   parish   archives   and   are   exempt   by   law  from  the   obligation   to 
deliver  their  older  church  books  to  the  provincial  archives.   These  parishes  are  located 
mainly  in  Kopparberg  and  Orebro  Counties. 

24 


Improvement  Era 


Lest  We  Forget 


The  Word  of  Wisdom 


By  Albert  L.  Zobell,  Jr. 

Research  Editor 


•  "This  winter  [1832-33]/'  wrote  the  Prophet  Joseph 
Smith,  "was  spent  in  translating  the  Scriptures;  in 
the  School  of  the  Prophets;  and  sitting  in  conferences. 
I  had  many  glorious  seasons  of  refreshing.  The  gifts 
which  follow  them  that  believe  and  obey  the  Gos- 
pel, as  tokens  that  the  Lord  is  ever  the  same  in  His 
dealings  with  the  humble  lovers  and  followers  of 
truth,  began  to  be  poured  out  among  us,  as  in  an- 
cient days.  .  .  ."  (Documentary  History  of  the  Church, 
Vol.  1,  p.  322.) 

Then  he  records  simply: 

"February  27  [1833].— I  received  the  following  rev- 
elation: ...  A  Word  of  Wisdom,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  .  .  .  church  .  .   .  ."  (Ibid.,  page  327.) 

Then  he  records  the  glorious  counsel  and  prom- 
ises found  therein. 

Speaking  to  the  Saints  at  Provo,  Utah,  some  35 
years  later,  February  8, 1868,  President  Brigham  Young 
recollected: 

"When  the  school  of  the  prophets  was  inaugurated 
one  of  the  first  revelations  given  by  the  Lord  to  His 
servant  Joseph  was  the  Word  of  Wisdom.  .  .  .  The 
prophet  began  to  instruct  [the  elders]  how  to  live 
that  they  might  be  the  better  prepared  to  perform 
the  great  work  they  were  called  to  accomplish.  I 
think  I  am  as  well  acquainted  with  the  circum- 
stances which  led  to  the  giving  of  the  Word  of  Wis- 
dom as  any  man  in  the  Church,  although  I  was  not 
present  at  the  time  to  witness  them.  The  first  school 
of  the  prophets  was  held  in  a  small  room  situated 
over  the  Prophet  Joseph's  kitchen,  in  a  house  which 
belonged  to  Bishop  Whitney,  and  which  was  at- 
tached to  his  store,  which  store  probably  might  be 
about  fifteen  feet  square.  In  the  rear  of  this  building 
was  a  kitchen,  probably  ten  by  fourteen  feet,  con- 
taining rooms  and  pantries.  Over  this  kitchen  was 
situated  the  room  in  which  the  Prophet  received  rev- 
elations and  in  which  he  instructed  his  brethren. 
The  brethren  came  to  that  place  for  hundreds  of 
miles  to  attend  school  in  a  little  room  probably  no 
larger  than  eleven  by  fourteen.  When  they  assem- 
bled together  in  this  room  after  breakfast,  the  first 
they  did  was  to  light  their  pipes,  and,  while  smoking, 
talk  about  the  great  things  of  the  kingdom,  and  spit 
all  over  the  room,  and  as  soon  as  the  pipe  was  out 
of  their   mouths   a   large  chew   of  tobacco   would 


then  be  taken.  Often  when  the  Prophet  entered  the 
room  to  give  the  school  instructions  he  would  find 
himself  in  a  cloud  of  tobacco  smoke.  This,  and 
the  complaints  of  his  wife  at  having  to  clean  so 
filthy  a  floor,  made  the  Prophet  think  upon  the 
matter,  and  he  inquired  of  the  Lord  relating  to  the 
conduct  of  the  Elders  in  using  tobacco,  and  the  reve- 
lation known  as  the  Word  of  Wisdom  was  the 
result  of  his  inquiry."  (Journal  of  Discourses,  Vol.  12, 
pp.  157-58.) 

The  Word  of  Wisdom  immediately  became  part 
of  the  teachings  of  the  Church.  The  Prophet  records 
that  in  1837  the  presidency  of  the  Church  at  Far 
West,  Missouri,  called  a  general  meeting  in  which  it 
was  "resolved  unanimously,  that  we  will  not  fellow- 
ship any  ordained  member  who  will  not,  or  does  not, 
observe  the  Word  of  Wisdom  according  to  its  literal 
reading."  (DHC,  Vol.  2,  p.  482.)  Christmas  day  1837 
"was  the  first  public  conference  of  the  Church  in 
England,  and  at  this  conference  the  Word  of  Wis- 
dom was  first  publicly  taught  in  that  country." 
(DHC,  Vol.  2,  p.  529.)  At  the  first  quarterly  conference 
at  Far  West,  April  7,  1838,  "President  Joseph  Smith, 
Jun.,  made  a  few  remarks  on  the  Word  of  Wisdom, 
giving  the  reason  of  its  coming  forth,  saying  it  should 
be  observed."  (DHC,  Vol.  3,  p.  15.) 

"It  is  a  piece  of  good  counsel  which  the  Lord  de- 
sires His  people  to  observe,  that  they  may  live  on 
the  earth  until  the  measure  of  their  creation  is  full," 
said  President  Brigham  Young  in  1868.  "This  is  the 
object  the  Lord  had  in  view  in  giving  that  Word  of 
Wisdom.  To  those  who  observe  it  He  will  give  great 
wisdom  and  understanding,  increasing  their  health, 
giving  strength  and  endurance  to  the  faculties  of 
their  bodies  and  minds  until  they  shall  be  full  of 
years  upon  the  earth.  This  will  be  their  blessing  if 
they  will  observe  His  word  with  a  good  and  willing 
heart  and  in  faithfulness  before  the  Lord."  (JD, 
Vol.  12,  p.  156.) 

The  twentieth  century  is  a  marvelous  age  in  which 
to  live.  It  is  an  age  in  which  science  has  confirmed 
much  of  the  Word  of  Wisdom.  We  now  scientifically 
know  what  the  nineteenth  century  Saints  accepted 
on  faith  concerning  the  great  truths  of  the  Word  of 
Wisdom.  The  promises  of  the  Lord  are  the  same  in 
all  ages  to  all  peoples.  O 


February  1968 


25 


•  It  was  six  a.m.  when  Olataga 
Masiasomua  reached  the  mission 
home  at  Pesega,  but  it  was  scarce- 
ly daylight  because  of  the  heavy 
clouds.  Strong  gusts  of  wind  drove 
the  rain  almost  horizontally  against 
her  as  she  ran  up  the  steps.  What 
a  day  for  a  district  conference! 
What  a  day  to  be  president  of  the 
mission  YWMIA!  The  trip  to 
Fagaloa  Bay  was  no  picnic  in  good 
weather,  and  with  a  storm  brewing 
she  would  be  lucky  to  have  a  hand- 
ful of  people  show  up  for  the  con- 
ference. 

When  Ola  entered  the  office  of 
President  Burton  H.  Price,  some  of 
the  MIA  board  members  were  al- 
ready waiting.  After  prayer,  Presi- 
dent Price,  his  counselor  Lauvale 

The  Hurricane 
and  Olataga 
of  Samoa 

By  Coy 
Harmon 

Illustrated  by 
Ed  Maryon 


Tialavea,  and  the  six  MIA  people 
climbed  into  the  mission  pickup 
truck.  Some  of  the  board  mem- 
bers had  borrowed  raincoats  from 
the  elders.  Others  huddled  under 
lavalavas,  trying  to  keep  out  the 
wind  and  the  sporadic  bursts  of 
rain. 

The  road  to  Fagaloa  winds  along 
the  coast  for  15  miles  or  so,  then 
climbs  the  mountain  and  drops 
precipitously  down  to  the  bay.  Un- 
til a  few  years  ago  the  only  way 
to  reach  Fagaloa  was  to  take  a  boat 
from  Apia  or  to  drive  to  the  top  of 
the  mountain  and  walk  down  a 
trail.  Now  a  narrow,  rocky  road 
has  been  built  to  the  first  two 
villages. 

As  the  truck  bumped  along  the 
coastal  road,  Ola  apprehensively 
watched  the  muddy,  white-capped 
surf  lashing  the  shore.  This  was 
going  to  be  a  real  storm.  Before 
they  reached  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tain, they  passed  plantations  where 
the  banana  trees  were  broken  off 
or  knocked  down. 

They  had  just  rounded  the  curve 
at  the  top,  ready  to  start  the 
descent,  when  the  truck  jerked  to  a 
stop.  The  road  was  blocked  by 
two  large  trees.  On  the  other  side 
of  the  trees  sat  two  buses  whose 
disgruntled  passengers  were  wait- 
ing to  go  to  Apia.  There  seemed  to 
be  no  way  to  move  the  trees  until 
Ola  remembered  that  in  the  MIA 
supplies  was  a  rope  they  had 
brought  for  a  tug-of-war  in  the 
afternoon  activity  session.  With 
the  rope,  the  lead  bus  was  able  to 
back  down  the  hill  and  drag  the 
trees  off  the  road.  Then  the  truck 
backed  up  the  hill  to  let  the  buses 
pass.  The  whole  operation  took  al- 
most two  hours. 

The  truck  had  just  reached  Lona 
Branch  when  the  storm  struck  with 
increased  fury.  Before  they  could 
jump  from  the  truck  and  run  into 
the  fale,  the  conference  visitors 
were  drenched  with  rain.  During 
the  afternoon  the  hurricane  intensi- 


Improvement  Era 


Bed  until  they  were  only  able  to 
hold  one  short  meeting  with  the 
branch  MIA  officers  who  had 
gathered. 

As  the  wind  rose,  breadfruit 
trees  were  uprooted  and  banana 
trees  flattened.  When  the  woven 
blinds  were  torn  from  the  fale 
where  the  visitors  were  staying,  the 
Saints  took  the  heavy  mats  from  the 
floor  and  nailed  them  between  the 
posts  to  keep  out  the  rain.  Some- 
how the  Saints  of  the  branch  were 
able  to  provide  food  for  the  visitors 
even  after  the  cooking  houses  were 
blown  down. 

Sleep  was  impossible.  The  roar 
of  the  wind  and  rain  was  punctu- 
ated by  the  cracking  of  branches 
and  the  sound  of  ripping  leaves. 
At  intervals  a  tree  would  crash  to 
the  ground,  and  always  in  the 
background  was  the  ominous 
pounding  of  the  surf. 

During  the  night  the  Saints  from 
Ma'asina  Branch,  who  had  come 
for  the  conference,  had  to  run  to 
the  safety  of  another  fale  before 
theirs  was  blown  down.  In  the 
fale  where  Ola  stayed,  an  elder  who 
had  been  lying  on  the  floor  near 
President  Price  found  that  a  heavy 
kava  bowl  had  been  hurled  by  the 
wind  across  the  floor  to  within  a 
few  inches  of  his  head. 

When  daylight  came,  President 
Price  and  President  Tialavea  de- 
cided that  it  would  be  impossible 
to  hold  conference  and  that  they 
would  try  to  get  back  to  Pesega 
when  the  wind  calmed  down  a 
little.  By  noon  the  storm  was  be- 
ginning to  subside,  although  the 
wind  still  came  in  sudden  hard 
gusts,  and  it  was  still  raining.  They 
considered  leaving  the  truck  there 
and  walking  out,  but  President  Tia- 
lavea said  he  thought  he  could 
drive  it  out  if  some  of  the  Saints 
would  walk  ahead  to  help  clear 
the  road.  Six  men  volunteered. 

They  had  worked  their  way 
about  halfway  to  the  top  when  they 
were  met  by  two  men  who   said 


February  1968 


that  it  was  impossible  to  get  out. 
President  Tialavea  took  the  truck 
back  down  to  Ma'asina  Branch  and 
left  it.  Then  the  group  began  to 
climb  the  mountain.  They  were 
tired,  wet,  cold,  and  hungry  when 
they  reached  the  top.  They  walked 
on  toward  home  and  had  almost 
reached  Falefa  when  they  were 
picked  up  by  two  elders  in  a 
truck. 

When  they  reached  Kanana 
Branch,  Olataga  was  astonished  to 
be  able  to  look  up  and  see  Sauniatu 
at  the  top  of  the  hill.  The  trees 
that  had  always  obscured  it  before 
had  been  leveled. 

It  was  beginning  to  get  dark 
when  Olataga  and  Oli  Manuo  be- 
gan the  four-mile  climb  to  Sauniatu, 
where  Olataga  teaches  at  the 
Church  school.  Her  sodden  clothes 
clung  to  her,  and  her  arms  and  legs 
were  scratched  from  climbing  over 
fallen  trees.  As  she  stumbled  over 
rocks  and  branches,  it  seemed  she 
would  never  reach  the  top. 

Finally,  they  were  on  level 
ground  and  could  hear  the  river. 
They  were  almost  home.  But  at 
the  bank  they  met  Nofo  Ti'i  and 
three  students  who  were  returning 
to  school  after  the  weekend  at 
home.  The  river  had  risen  several 
feet  over  the  bridge  and  it  was 
impossible  to  cross  it. 

Nofo  and  Oli  decided  that  if  they 
went   upstream   to   a   not-so-rocky 


place,  they  would  be  able  to  swim 
across.  Ola  was  terrified  at  the 
thought  of  jumping  into  the  dark, 
churning  water,  but  the  two  men 
helped  the  students  across  and 
came  back  for  her.  After  much 
coaxing  and  reasoning,  they  per- 
suaded her  to  swim  across  between 
them.    She  plunged  in. 

As  the  cold,  swirling  water 
sucked  her  down,  she  began  to 
swim  for  her  life.  The  current  was 
so  strong  that  several  times  she 
thought  she  could  not  possibly 
make  it  across.  Then  one  of  the 
men  would  shout  to  her  to  swim 
and  she  would  struggle  harder.  At 
last  she  was  able  to  touch  bottom, 
and  they  helped  her  scramble  up 
the  bank.  She  lay  on  the  grass, 
shivering  and  panting  for  breath, 
grateful  to  be  alive.  The  wind  was 
dying.  The  storm  was  almost  over. 
Tomorrow  she  would  have  to  start 
planning  for  the  next  conference, 
the  sports  tournaments,  and  the 
youth  conferences,  and  she  needed 
a  new  girls'  program  secretary,  but 
tonight  she  was  just  too  tired  to 
worry  about  it.  .  .  .  O 


Coy  Harmon,  who  was  in  Samoa  with 
her  schoolteacher  husband  when  this 
incident  took  place,  is  a  member  of  the 
Pleasant  View  (Provo,  Utah)  Second 
Ward. 


''Olataga  Masiasomua 


Where  does  al) 


Turning  Financial  Folly  Into  Family  Fun         (Part  2) 


•  "Finance  is  the  number  one  cause 
of  family  arguments"  is  the  con- 
clusion of  some  of  those  who  make 
a  study  of  family  problems.  Open 
disagreements  over  money  matters 
are  not  the  only  bad  fruits.  Ten- 
sions caused  from  worry  about 
overdue  bills,  fretting  over  where 
the  next  house  payment  will  come 
from,  anger  toward  a  husband  or 
wife  for  a  "foolish,"  unplanned 
purchase,  and  disappointment  in 
having  to  see  children  do  without 
may  result  in  sharp  words  and 
flaming  tempers.  Peace  cannot 
abide  in  a  home  where  anxiety  over 
financial  matters  represses  expres- 
sions of  love  and  crowds  out 
laughter. 

With  our  understanding  of  the 
sacred  and  eternal  nature  of  the 
family,  it  behooves  every  good 
Latter-day  Saint  to  take  steps  to 
reduce  discord  in  the  home.  If 
handling  money  is  a  prime  source 
of  disharmony,  efforts  made  to 
eliminate  the  difficulty  will  result 
in  a  strengthening  of  the  bonds  of 
love  and  peace  in  each  home. 

A  first  step  in  turning  financial 
folly  into  family  fun  is  to  find  out: 
Where  does  it  all  go? 

The  best  way  to  do  this  is  to  keep 
a  book  in  which  the  family  can 
record  what  money  is  spent.  The 
total  figures  for  each  month  will 
show  what  happened  to  the  money. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  people 
with  larger  incomes  and  higher 
standards  of  living  use  budgets 
more  frequently  than  those  who  live 
in     more     modest     circumstances. 

From  almost  any  variety  store, 
stationery     store,     or     department 


store,  one  can  purchase  a  "family 
expense  record"  book  for  as  little 
as  39  cents,  but  under  any  circum- 
stances, there  is  no  need  to  pay 
more  than  a  dollar.  Get  a  book 
with  columns  that  are  labeled, 
i.e.,  housing,  food,  church,  etc.,  and 
then  all  you  do  is  fill  in  the  blanks. 
Also,  make  sure  that  one  open  page 
will  cover  one  month. 

After  the  family  has  recorded 
two  or  three  months'  outgo,  average 
up  the  amount  in  each  category 
and  use  this  as  the  basis  for  your 


budget  ( planned  expenditures ) . 
Let  the  family  counsel  together  and 
determine  where  they  would  like 
to  tighten  up  so  as  to  provide  more 
money  for  a  category  that  yields 
more  satisfaction. 

One  family  drives  secondhand 
cars  and  drinks  powdered  milk  be- 
cause putting  more  into  a  home 
brings  greater  satisfaction.  Another 
finds  great  joy  in  new  cars  but 
spends  a  minimum  on  clothes  and 
other  items. 

Don't  try  to  make  a  budget  like 


Suggested  Allocation  of  Take-Home  Pay1 


$5,000  to  $7,000 

$10,000  to  $12,000 

1. 

Tithing2 

12% 

12% 

2. 

Savings 

5 

7 

3. 

Food 

21 

15 

4. 
5. 

Rent  or  mortgage  payments  and 
household  operations  ( utilities ) 
Home  furnishings  and  household 

28 

29 

6. 

equipment 

Clothing,  including  laundry 

and  cleaning 

3 

7 

4 
8 

7. 

Insurance 

3 

4 

8. 

Medical  and  dental  care 

5 

3 

9. 
10. 

Transportation  and  automobile 
Personal  allowances,  entertain- 

7 

7 

ment,    H.O.K.3   and  miscellaneous 

7 

8 

11. 

Gifts  and  subscriptions 

2 
100% 

3 
100% 

1Take-home  pay  should  be  gross  income  less  deductions  for  taxes  and  Social 
Security.  It  should  include  any  deductions  for  such  items  as  insurance  and 
credit  union. 

210%  of  gross  income  normally  amounts  to  approximately  12%  of  take-home 
pay.   This  amount  will  vary,  however,  according  to  the  number  of  dependents. 

3"Heaven-Only-Knows." 


28 


Improvement  Era 


By  Quinn  G.  McKay,  Ph.D. 

Dean,  School  of  Business  and  Economics,  Weber  State  College 


that  of  the  neighbors.  Let  your 
planned  expenditures  be  an  expres- 
sion of  the  desires  and  goals  of 
your  family.  Remember:  the  bud- 
get is  the  expression  of  the  entire 
family.  Also,  if  you  add  to  one 
category,  you  must  subtract  from 
another. 

For  those  who  would  like  some 
guidelines  from  which  a  family 
can  start  planning,  here  is  a  starter. 
The  chart  on  page  28  is  based  on  an 
average  family  of  five  or  six.  It 
should  be  adjusted  to  meet  special 
needs  of  your  family  and  according 
to  the  number  of  dependents  and 
amount  of  deductions.  Percentages 
are  based  on  take-home  pay,  so  the 
family  can  plan  how  to  allocate 
actual  amounts  of  money  available. 
Therefore,  the  percentage  for  tith- 
ing may  vary,  according  to  differ- 
ences between  gross  pay  and 
take-home  pay. 

Just  one  further  note  about 
budgeting:  To  spend  a  whole 
evening  fretting  because  you  can't 
find  what  happened  to  23  cents  is 
poor  budgeting.  Put  in  an  "H.O.K." 
( "Heaven-Only-Knows" )  account, 
because  each  month  money  may 
seem  to  disappear  just  as  though 
the  mice  ate  it.  Allow  for  this,  and 
don't  fight  over  it  as  long  as  it  is 
not  out  of  line. 

After  a  budget  has  been  de- 
cided upon,  a  once-a-month  family 
finance  council  should  be  held.  The 
purpose  is  twofold: 

1.  To  help  the  family  members 
psychologically  to  see  that  there  are 
limits  to  how  much  money  is  avail- 
able. 

2.  To  train  them  to  learn  that 


there  are  helpful  devices  for  man- 
aging money. 

3.  To  help  them  see  that  what 
they  do  each  day  can  affect  the 
amount  of  money  that  is  available 
for  other  things. 

When  family  members  are  cog- 
nizant of  waste  and  of  belongings 
that  are  ill  cared  for,  then  the 
budget  is  controlled  every  day  of 
the  month,  not  just  once  a  month 
at  family  council  night.  Thus,  a 
family  budget  council  is  designed 
to  help  members  of  the  household 
to  be  conscious  of  where  the  money 
is  going  each  day. 

Each  month  sit  down  at  a  table 
with  the  family  finance  book 
opened  to  the  previous  month's 
record.  First,  select  for  detailed 
review  the  accounts  most  out  of 
line.  ( Going  into  everything  in  de- 
tail would  be  boring.)  Talk  about 
why  these  accounts  are  out  of  line, 
and  relate  the  why  to  everyday  ex- 
periences. If  the  electricity  bill  is 
high,  discuss  how  family  members 
can  be  "light  switch  conscious."  If 
extra  shoes  had  to  be  purchased, 
discuss  the  care  of  shoes  and  what 
water  does  to  leather.  If  an  ap- 
pliance had  to  be  repaired  or 
replaced,  explain  the  value  of 
maintenance,  use,  and  proper  stor- 
age of  equipment.  This  can  also 
be  done  with  care  of  clothes,  furni- 
ture, expensive  foods,  and  enter- 
tainment. Relating  items  to  specific 
dollar  amounts  helps  to  build  a 
consciousness  of  values  and  costs. 

Second,  call  attention  to  ac- 
counts in  which  expenses  were  less 
than  budgeted.  Here  may  be  a 
chance  to  hand  out  a  bouquet  or 


two  to  members  of  the  family.  Dur- 
ing the  month  father  or  mother 
should  make  note  of  expense-saving 
behavior  and  mention  it  in  family 
council. 

Third,  save  until  last  the  special 
savings  account.  That  is  going  to 
provide  for  a  piano,  color  tele- 
vision set,  vacation,  bicycle,  mis- 
sion, or  college.  Let  each  person 
see  how  much  closer  the  acquisi- 
tion is.  Spend  a  few  minutes 
planning  for  the  purchase  by  look- 
ing at  catalogues  or  discussing 
the  individual  preferences  of  fam- 
ily members  regarding  it.  If  it  is 
a  vacation  fund,  spend  the  winter 
months  in  anticipation.  Dreaming, 
talking,  and  finding  information 
about  potential  vacation  spots  can 
bring  added  months  of  joy  for  a 
10-day  trip. 
Cautions: 

1.  Review  only  what  has  been 
set  aside  as  the  family  budget. 
Mother  and  father  may  want  to 
keep  business  finances,  investments, 
and  other  matters  private,  espe- 
cially if  the  family  is  young  and 
cannot  keep  confidences. 

2.  Don't  make  this  a  long  ses- 
sion; particularly,  don't  dwell  too 
long  on  negative  aspects  and 
preachments.  Every  needed  lesson 
cannot  be  taught  in  one  night. 
There  will  be  another  night  next 
month. 

3.  Don't  use  the  family  finance 
council  as  a  punishment  or  to 
expose  or  embarrass  a  spender  in 
the  family.  This  meeting  is  for 
education,  not  retribution. 

4.  Do  everything  possible  in 
steps  two  and  three  to  make  it  an 


February  1968 


29 


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30  Improvement  Era 


"Those  who  save  what  is  left  over  usually  have  no  savings, 


emotionally  rewarding  experience,  cheaper,   but  you  also   often  con-  fit  family  needs  three  months  from 

Do  not  conduct  it  in  such  a  way  sume  more  when  you  think  there  now.     Don't  give  away  your  flexi- 

that    the    family    comes    to    dread  is  plenty.    Use  self-restraint.  bility    and    monthly    control    over 

finance  council  night.     The  family  Try  things  that  are  less  expen-  expenditures.     Preserve    flexibility 

can    learn    that    money    properly  sive,  like  powdered  milk.  People's  and    be    free    so    the    family    can 

handled   can  bring  lots   of  family  tastes  adjust.    Even  mixing  three-  change  its  mind  next  month, 

fun  and  satisfaction.  fourths   powdered   and   one-fourth  7.  Don't  be  afraid  to  buy  good 

Controlling  the  budget  is  a  mat-  whole   milk  makes    the   milk   cost  used  items:    furniture,  appliances, 

ter  of  attitude— as  much  psychology  about  15  cents  a  quart,  which  is  a  cars.      Careful  shopping  here  can 

as  finance.     It  is  a  matter  of  per-  big  savings  over  28  cents  a  quart  result  in  significant  savings, 

sonal  self-restraint.  for  whole  milk.     Children  usually  8.  Teach  the  family  to  take  care 

Spending  Tips  consume  as  much  inexpensive  pea-  of  things.  Lessons  on  care  of  cloth- 

1.  Tithing  (the  Lord's  portion)  nut  butter  as  they  do  the  expensive  ing  can  be  an  excellent  expenditure 
should  always  be  set  aside  or  paid  brands.  of  time  and  may  result  in  many 
the  very  first.  4.  Pay  cash.    At  each  purchase,  dollars   saved.     Care   of  furniture 

2.  Savings  should  be  put  away  seeing  actual  dollars  disappear  or  may  require  making  the  living  room 
next.  Payroll  deductions  for  credit  the  bank  account  balance  diminish  off  limits  for  food  or  jumping, 
union  or  automatic  bank  savings  is  a  good  regular  reminder  and  has  9.  Make  special  savings  accounts, 
are  good.  Those  who  never  save  a  good  psychological  restraining  Save  for  a  color  television  set  or 
must  invariably  borrow.  People  effect.  other  special  purchase.  At  the 
who  save  what  is  left  over  prac-  5.  Don't  buy  on  first  visit  of  monthly  family  budget  review,  save 
tically  never  have  a  savings  door-to-door  salesmen  or  at  the  this  account  until  last.  Then  let  the 
account.  first  store  when  looking  at  a  major  family    see    together    how    much 

3.  In  buying  food,  use  a  shop-  purchase.  Educate  yourself.  Com-  nearer  they  are  to  that  new  TV. 
ping  list  and  then  stick  with  it.  pare  prices  and  features  until  you  This  can  be  the  positive  side. 
This  forces  planning  and  also  helps  satisfy  yourself.  Learn  what  to  Budgeting  need  not  be  all  "no" 
one  to  resist  impulse  buying,  look  for  or  what  is  important  in  a  and  tears.  Budget  for  things,  not 
Merchants  devise  every  means  pos-  washing  machine,  or  piano,  or  fur-  just  against  spending. 

sible  to  get  shoppers  to  give  in  to  niture.  Take  time  to  analyze  and  10.  Don't  overextend  on  house 
impulses  and  buy  more  than  they  raise  questions  while  not  under  the  buying.  Do  not  buy  a  house  that 
really  need.  smooth  talk  or  charisma  of  a  tal-  costs  more  than  two  and  a  half 
Shop  not  more  than  once  a  week,  ented  salesman.  His  product  is  times  your  annual  income.  Monthly 
Try  every  other  week.  It  can  be  probably  what  he  says  it  is,  but  housing  costs  (principal,  interest, 
done.  Again,  it  will  force  better  only  you  can  decide  if  it  is  the  best  insurance,  and  property  taxes) 
planning,  and  you  can  save  money,  expenditure  of  limited  funds  for  should  not  exceed  one-fourth  of 
Shop  the  sales.  Buy  in  case  lots  your  family.  your  monthly  take-home  pay. 
only  at  sale  time.  By  using  and  6.  Be  reluctant  to  obligate  your-  11.  Watch  automobile  expenses 
restocking  your  year's  supply,  you  selves  to  long-run  purchase  schemes  closely.  It  costs  more  to  drive  a 
can  go  from  one  sale  to  another  on  and  other  programs  without  thor-  car  than  you  think, 
many  items.  Planning  clothing  ough  investigation.  They  may  or  With  wise  planning  and  self- 
purchases  can  also  help  you  take  may  not  provide  all  the  savings  restraint,  financial  folly  can  be 
advantage  of  sales,  thus  helping  pictures.  More  important,  long-run  turned  into  family  fun  and  con- 
make  the  money  go  further.  Beware  schemes  lock  you  into  something  tribute  to  harmony  in  the  home 
of    jumbo    sizes.     They    are    often  that  looks  good  today  but  may  not  rather  than  disharmony.                  O 


February  1968  31 


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Improvement  Era 


You've  been  called 
a  responsible 
generation.  Born  in 
the  fullness  of  times, 
blessed  with  the 
proverbial  bounties 
challenged  by  causes 
and  conditions 
great  enough  to  excite 
rour  attention,  you 


hi 


ave  the  role  of  the 

chosen  ones.  You  are 

the  royalty  of  the 

generations  of  a' 

time.    And  when  much 

is  given,  much  is 

expected.  This  is  not 

a  new  idea  but  one  that 

you'll  come  to 

witness  as  truth  as  you 

move  along  your 

path  as  student  leader, 

athlete,  artist, 

ebater,  home  teacher, 

or  friend  of  the 

^^^^  crowd. 

To  be  part  of  a 


of  church,  society, 

school,  or  friend.  And 

it  is  to  choose  to  do 

something  about  it. 

Elder  Thomas  S.  Monson 

of  the  Council  of  the 

Twelve  spoke  to 

thousands  of  youth 

gathered  in  the 

Tabernacle  a  short  time 

ago  and  said:  " Young 

people,  you  may  choose 

your  friends,  you 

may  choose  your 

vocation,  you  may 

choose  to  honor  and 

obey  God,  or  you  may 


responsible  generation 
is  to  be  "answering." 
It  is  to  hear  the  sound, 
the  cry,  the  message 


choose  to  disobey.  It 

has  been  given  unto 

you  to  choose.    Bu 

with  this  great  gift 

^^^^^ comes  a  great 

responsibility,  for  with 

a  choice  comes  the 

responsibility  of  your 

choice." 
To  you  of  the 

esponsible 
eneration 

may  this  issue  be  a 

help  in  your 

preparations 


and  in  your  choices. 
The  Editors 


Marion  D.  Hanks,  Editor  •  Elaine  Cannon,  Associate  Editor 


February  1968 


33 


Lincoln,  a 


sible 


Citizen 


He  Kept  On  Growing 

By  Marion  D.  Hanks 


Illustrated  by  Dale  Kilbourn 


•  A  truly  great  man  was  born  on  the 
twelfth  day  of  February,  long  ago.  He  lived 
his  boyhood  days  in  a  frontier  cabin,  and 
was  denied  substantially  every  blessing  that 
most  boys — even  very  poor  boys — enjoy  to- 
day. The  preparations  he  made  and  the 
contributions  that  were  his  and  the  oppor- 
tunities that  came  to  him  were  all  the  result 
of  an  iron  determination — and  the  will  of 
God. 

I  am  one  who  is  prepared  to  believe  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  chosen  by  God  and 
made  ready  by  him  in  his  own  wise  way  for 
a  great  task  that  had  to  be  done.  I  don't 
suggest  that  Abraham  Lincoln  knew  it  dur- 
ing those  days  of  deprivation,  but  certainly 
there  wasn't  any  mortal  wise  enough  to 
suppose  that  much  good  could  come  of  a  boy 
condemned  to  such  a  birth  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, let  alone  to  suppose  that  God 
was  shaping  a  man  to  meet  a  challenge. 

The  early  days  of  his  manhood  and  matu- 
rity didn't  look  much  like  it,  either.  He  was 
defeated  again  and  again  in  his  efforts  to 
win  political  office  and  in  other  important 
objectives  he  established  for  himself.  But 
he  did  not  quit.  He  was  getting  ready. 
Know  it  or  not,  he  was  getting  ready.    I 

34 


remember  the  last  lines  of  a  great  poem 
about  Lincoln : 

"Lincoln  was  a  tall  pine. 
Lincoln  kept  on  growing." 

That  he  had  intimations  that  there  were 
things  he  was  to  do  seems  evident.  Long 
before  he  matched  his  steel  with  the  dread- 
ful problem  of  slavery,  he  said,  "When  I  hit 
that  thing,  I'll  hit  it  hard."  And  he  just  kept 
on  growing. 

Lincoln's  heart  was  with  right  and  with 
the  people.  An  old  man  who  had  listened  to 
Abe  at  Gettysburg  corrected  the  usual 
elocutionary  presentation  of  his  magnifi- 
cent address  there  in  one  important  particu- 
lar: "Abe  didn't  say  lof  the  people,  by  the 
people,  for  the  people,'  like  they  quote  it," 
he  said.  "Abe  said,  'of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  for  the  people'  " 

The  right?  It  was  Lincoln  who  said : 

"I  am  not  bound  to  win,  but  I  am  bound 
to  be  true ;  I  am  not  bound  to  succeed,  but  I 
am  bound  to  live  by  the  light  I  have." 

Think  seriously  about  this  man  and  what 
he  was  and  did.  We,  too,  are  serving  the 
right,  and  our  chief  concern  is  people — God's 
choice  children.  Keep  serving  and  loving 
and  growing.  o 

Era  of  Youth 


What  Is  a  Girl 
Good  For? 


I 


By 

Elaine 

Cannon 

•  Woman's  role?  What  is  it?  the  young 
woman  of  today  asks. 

One  hears  a  lot  of  talk  about  what  today's 
girl  is  good  for.  One  sees  the  word  in  print. 
But  opinions  vary  greatly. 

Girls  are  counseled  to  marry  and  have 
families — to  fulfill  the  measure  of  their 
creation.  But  if  they  do,  they  are  charged 
with  adding  to  the  problem  of  the  popula- 
tion explosion.  They  are  taught  the  same 
subjects  as  boys  in  school  and  trained  to 
compete  with  them  in  the  world  of  com- 
merce. On  the  other  hand,  they  are 
reminded  that  their  place  is  in  the  home. 
What  is  the  truth?   The  dichotomy  can  be 

■ 

One  thing  of  which  an  LDS  girl  is  certain 
is  that  her  role  in  the  Church  and  in  life  will 
always  be  different  from  that  of  a  boy.  She 
has  not  been  given  the  priesthood.  God's 
power  is  not  used  through  her  exactly  as  it 
is  in  men.  But  a  girl  does  have  a  power.  Hers 
is  the  power  to  bear  children,  yes,  but  also 
to  love,  and  with  heart  and  hand  to  com- 
fort, teach,  and  train,  to  heal  and  care  for 
both  old  and  young,  man,  woman,  and  child 
alike,  wherever  her  service  may  take  her. 

Growing  up  with  an  attitude  toward 
service,  maturing  in  the  sweet  spirit  of 
waiting  upon  others,  giving  of  one's  self 
as  only  a  woman  can,  will  mark  a  girl's  life 
happily.  Her  theme  song  might  be: 

"Have  I  done  any  good  in  the  world  today? 
Have  I  helped  anyone  in  need? 
Have  I  cheered  up  the  sad, 
And  made  someone  feel  glad? 
If  not,  I  have  failed  indeed. 

"Has  anyone's  burden  been  lighter  today, 
Because  I  was  willing  to  share? 


February  1968 


Have  the  sick  and  the  weary 

Been  helped  on  their  way? 

When  they  needed  my  help  was  I  there?" 

Among  the  many  wonderful  ways  a  young 
girl  can  grow  into  her  role  of  woman  is  to 
do  volunteer  work  as  a  candy  striper  in  a 
hospital.  Two  such  teens  are  Latter-day 
Saints  Marti  Sonntag  and  Kathy  Thorpe, 
caught  in  action  by  photographer  Eldon 
Linschoten. 


February  1968 


Responsiveness 
to  A\«in 


& 


& 


By  Paulette 
Flandro 


«»  ~:'f 


VO 


<> 


/  remember  mud  squishing  between  my  toes, 
and  the  incredible  softness  of  newborn  puppies. 
I  heard  brook  music  when  we  went  fishing,  and 
ran  to  the  melody  of  mother's  call.  I  tasted  honey 
on  my  fingers,  and  smelled  apple  blossoms  in  our 
tree.  I  cried  when  I  was  afraid  or  hurt,  and  I 
laughed  when  I  was  happy  to  be  alive.  Telling 
stories  at  the  bedside  of  my  brothers  made  me  feel 
grown  up.   But  in  my  heart  I  knew  I  wasn't. 

Somewhere  as  a  child  I  learned  to  love.  Love 
is  the  key  to  being  properly  responsive  to  life,  to 
our  fellowmen.  Love  begins  when  I  ask  my  grown- 
up friend,  "How  are  you?"  and  he  answers  me 
honestly.  When  he  is  happy,  we  run  and  laugh 
together.  When  he  is  depressed,  I  listen  as  he 
pours  out  his  heart.  I  share  his  tears,  as  he  would 
mine.  I  go  to  my  friend,  for  there  is  love. 

Love  is  giving  what  I  need  to  get.  Love  is  re- 
sponsiveness to  man. 

Love  begins  when  I  realize  that  we  are  all 
children  of  God  and  respond  to  this  sublime  idea. 
I  step  into  my  parents'  shoes  and  weaken  when  I 
see  the  challenges  of  rearing  a  family  and  creating 
a  home  where  love  is  king.  Then  I  understand 
how  heartbreaking  life  would  be  without  love, 
or  love  without  eternal  life.  I  must  be  a  responsive 
child  and  listen  to  their  wise  counsel,  for  they  are 
wise  in  the  ways  of  love,  and  they  are  responsive 
to  the  counsel  of  Heavenly  Father. 

Erich  Fromm  said,  "Duty  is  an  obligation,  but 
responsibility  is  a  response  to  something."  I  like 
to  think  responsibility  is  a  response  to  love. 

If  I  am  to  be  a  responsible  member  of  this 
generation,  I  must,  then,  be  responsive  to  all 
mankind.  To  truly  do  this,  I  must  educate  both 
my  mind  and  heart,  for  what  is  knowledge  with- 
out love?  It  is  an  empty  barrel  of  facts  without 
meaning.  Without  love,  Toynbee  said,  "Man  is  a 
god  of  technology  but  an  ape  at  life." 

We  are  aiming  to  become  good  at  life.   Christ's 

Church  is  based  on  love.    "We  believe  in  being 

treasured,    high-principled     honest,  true,  chaste,  benevolent,  virtuous,  and  in 

doing  good  to  all  men."  The  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  was  established  to 
help  us  prepare  ourselves  to  truly  love  our  broth- 
ers, to  love  God,  and  to  serve  him.  Only  thus  can 
we  earn  our  way  back  into  his  eternal  presence. 


•  /  looked  around  me  at  my  world — my  world 
of  unrelated  textbooks  and  lectures,  my  world  of 
philosophical  discussions,  my  world  of  prayer 
with  the  council  of  the  Latter-day  Saint  Student 
Association,  my  world  of  refusing  European 
moral  standards  while  studying  abroad,  my  world 
of  the  promise  of  eternal  progression,  my  world 
of  blindly  insensitive  people,  and  especially  my 
world  of  dear  and 
friends. 

With  all  of  these  diverse  influences,  what  sense 
have  I  made  of  the  world?  What  is  my  relation- 
ship to  the  scheme  of  things?  What  is  my 
responsibility  ? 


38 


Era  of  Youth 


Responsiveness  to  God  By  steve  iba 


continues  on  page  42 


•  That  grand  old  prophet  Elijah  was  blessed  with 
power  from  heaven  to  curse  the  earth  with  famine 
and  to  call  fire  down  to  consume  the  offering 
before  the  prophets  of  Baal.  Then  Elijah  left 
the  land  and  lay  down  under  a  juniper  tree  and 
slept.  An  angel  of  the  Lord  came  to  him  and 
said:  "Arise  and  eat;  because  the  journey  is  too 
great  for  thee." 

During  the  journey  Elijah  hid  himself  in  a  cave. 
The  voice  of  the  Lord  said  unto  him :  "What  doest 
thou  here,  Elijah?  ...  Go  forth,  and  stand  upon 
the  mount  before  the  Lord.  And,  behold,  the 
Lord  passed  by,  and  a  great  and  strong  wind  rent 
the  mountains,  and  brake  in  pieces  the  rocks 
before  the  Lord;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the 
wind:  and  after  the  wind  an  earthquake;  but 
the  Lord  was  not  in  the  earthquake:  And  after  the 
earthquake  a  fire;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in 
the  fire;  and  after  the  fire  a  still  small  voice," 
(1  Kings  19:7,  9-12.) 

And  so  it  was  with  Elijah.  He  was  a  man  like 
unto  ourselves.  At  times  we  all  slumber  under 
our  juniper  trees.  "We  walk  in  darkness  at 
noonday,"  and  are  very  insensitive  toward  life, 
toward  all  that  moves  and  lives  around  us. 

But  what  do  we  hear  from  the  Lord  ?  "Awake 
and  arouse  your  faculties."  Have  you  observed 
how  a  child  is  awake  and  responsive  to  his  father 
and  mother?  We  are  the  offspring  of  God,  our 
Father,  and  "cometh  from  afar." 

"Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy! 

Shades  of  the  prison-house  begin  to  close 

Upon  the  growing  Boy, 

But  he  beholds  the  light,  and  whence  it  flows, 

He  sees  it  in  his  joy; 

The  Youth,  who  daily  farther  from  the  east 

Must  travel,  still  is  Nature's  Priest, 

And  by  the  vision  splendid 

Is  on  his  way  attended ; 

At  length  the  Man  perceives  it  die  away, 

And  fade  into  the  light  of  common  day." 

(William  Wordsworth, 

"Intimations  of  Immortality.") 

February  1968 


Must  that  responsiveness  toward  God  fade  into 
the  light  of  common  day  ?  The  light  from  Father 
fades  because  we  hide  in  caves.  We  build  up  walls 
around  ourselves.  Can  we  be  responsive  to  God  if 
we're  false,  artificial,  ungenuine  with  men?  "Man 
is  spirit.  .  .  ."  That's  our  real  selves.  Only 
through  a  spirit-to-spirit  communication  and  re- 
lationship can  we  be  known  and  come  to  know 
one  another.  Too  many  times  we  allow  only  the 
scabbard  to  be  seen,  and  never  unsheath  the  knife. 

"What  doest  thou  here?"  Can  you  hear  that 
voice  when  you're  sleeping  under  your  juniper  tree 
or  hiding  in  your  cave?  "Go  forth  and  stand  upon 
the  mount."  Hear  the  voice  of  the  Lord  speak 
to  you,  spirit  to  spirit,  Father  to  son.  Remember, 
he's  not  in  the  wind,  earthquake,  or  fire,  but  in  the 
still  small  voice  within  you. 

"Sometimes  during  solitude  I  hear  truth  spoken 
with  clarity  and  freshness;  uncolored  and  un- 
translated it  speaks  from  within  myself  in  a  lan- 
guage original  but  inarticulate,  heard  only  with 
the  soul,  and  I  realize  I  brought  it  with  me,  was 
never  taught  it,  nor  can  I  efficiently  teach  it  to 
another."  (President  Hugh  B.  Brown.) 

It's  a  personal  response  to  know  what  the  Father 
wants  us  to  do.  As  we  respond,  he  responds,  and 
then  we  become  responsible  to  what  we  hear  and 
feel.  The  words  of  Johann  Schiller,  which 
Beethoven  put  to  music  in  his  Ninth  Symphony, 
are  meaningful: 

"Millions,  myriads,  rise  and  gather! 
Share  this  universal  kiss! 
Brothers,  in  a  heaven  of  bliss ; 
Smiles  the  world's  all  loving  Father. 
Do  the  millions,  his  creation,  know  him 
And  His  works  of  love? 
Seek  Him !   In  the  heights  above, 
In  His  starry  habitation." 

Do  we  seek  him  and  know  him,  the  world's  all- 
loving  Father?    I  wonder.  O 

39 


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New  Light  on 
Joseph  Smith's 

Egyptian 
Rapyrl 

Additional 
Fragment 
Disclosed 


40 


Because  of  the  unprecedented  inter- 
est generated  throughout  the  Church 
by  the  recovery  of  1 1  pieces  of  papyrus 
that  were  once  the  property  of  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith,  The  Improve- 
ment Era  is  reproducing  here  in  color 
all  of  the  known  papyri  now  in  the 
possession  of  the  Church.  There  are 
12  pieces  in  all;  11  of  these  are  included 
in  the  recent  find  (see  January  Era) 
and  one  has  been  in  the  Church  His- 
torian's Office  over  the  years.  The  12 
pieces  of  papyrus  have  now  been  num- 
bered and  labeled  by  Dr.  Hugh  Nibley, 
who  has  been  assigned  by  the  Church 
to  direct  the  investigation  and  research 
being  done  on  the  material.  (See  the 
second  in  his  series  of  articles,  "A  New 
Look  at  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price," 
page  14.) 

Fragment  1  is  the  section  of  the 
papyrus  manuscript  from  which  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith  obtained  Fac- 
simile No.  1,  which  is  reproduced  in 
the  Book  of  Abraham. 

Fragments  2,  3A  and  3B  are  un- 
classified, illustrated  fragments. 

Fragments  4-9 — these  include  the 
one  from  the  Church  Historian's  Of- 
fice— are  from  the  Book  of  the  Dead. 


/.    Facsimile  No.  1 


Such  books,  which  were  written  to 
assist  in  the  safe  passage  of  the  dead 
persons  into  the  spirit  world,  were 
commonly  buried  with  Egyptian  mum- 
mies. The  writings  on  the  recently 
recovered  fragments  show  that  all  of 
these  Book  of  the  Dead  papyri  belonged 
to  the  lady  Taimin  Mutninesikhonsu. 
Thus,  we  probably  now  know  the  name 
of  the  female  mummy  that  was  in 
Joseph  Smith's  possession  and  on  whose 
person  it  was  reported  the  papyrus  was 
originally  found. 

Fragments  10  and  11  are  unclassi- 
fied, unillustrated  hieratic  texts.  (Hier- 
atic text  is  a  cursive,  shorthand  version 
of  hieroglyphics.) 

Fragment  4  is  called  the  "Framed 
Trinity  Papyrus"  because  this  particu- 
lar fragment  had  an  old  frame  on  it 
when  it  was  found  in  the  Metropoli- 
tan Museum  of  Art  in  New  York.  It  is 
thought  that  the  fragment  may  have 
been  framed  and  displayed  during  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith's  time.  It  is 
labeled  "Trinity"  because  such  figures 
as  those  shown  in  the  upper  left- 
hand  illustration  are  interpreted  by 
Egyptologists  as  representing  the 
Trinity.  D.L.G. 


!')•< 


tm9  mm 


■t  a. 


Background  of  the  Church  Historian's  Fragment 


By  Jay  M.  Todd 

Editorial  Associate 

•  As  to  the  background  of  the  Church 
Historian's  fragment,  this  is  most 
puzzling.  Two  members  of  the  his- 
torian's office,  A.  William  Lund  and 
Earl  E.  Olson,  assistant  Church  his- 
torians, do  not  recall  any  information 
surrounding  the  fragment — only  that 
it  has  been  there  throughout  their 
service.  Brother  Lund  has  been  assistant 
Church  historian  since  1911,  and  has 
worked  since  September  1908  in  the 
historian's  office.  They  believe  that 
the  fragment  has  been  a  part  of  the 
manuscript  of  the  Egyptian  Alphabet 
and  Grammar  prepared  by  Joseph 
Smith  preparatory  to  the  translation  of 
the  Book  of  Abraham  and  that  it  ap- 
parently has  always  been  in  the 
Church's  hands.  A  perusal  of  the  files 
of  the  Church  Historian's  Office  dis- 
closes these  two  items: 

(1)  Wednesday,  October  17,  1855. 
".  .  .  The  following  books  and  papers 
were  taken  from  this  office  today  and 
deposited  in  the  fire  proof  vault  of  the 
new  Historian's  Office,  namely  on  the 
2nd  shelf  from  the  bottom:  History 
Books,  A.,  B.l,  B.2  .  .  Egyptian  Alpha- 
bet; .  .  .  three  plates  of  the  Book  of 
Abraham;  red  box  with  papers,  blanks, 
journal,  sterotype  [sic]  plates."  Thus, 
if  the  Church  Historian's  fragment  has 
always  been  with  the  Egyptian  Alpha- 

//.    Plowing  scene 


bet  and  Grammar,  perhaps  this  entry 
helps  to  date  and  place  the  papyrus 
fragment  in  its  long  journey  from 
Nauvoo  to  Utah. 

(2)  However,  the  most  interesting — 
and  most  puzzling — entry  is  found 
under  date  of  Saturday,  July  11,  1846. 
(As  early  as  1938,  Dr.  Sidney  B.  Sperry 
of  Brigham  Young  University,  the 
"father"  of  much  of  our  modern  Pearl 
of  Great  Price  research,  mentioned  in 
part  this  intriguing  entry  in  Ancient 
Records  Testify  in  Papyrus  and  Stone, 
an  MIA  course  of  study.)  "At  seven 
a.m.  President  Brigham  Young  and  the 
brethren  with  him  went  into  council  in 
Powsheeks'  tent,  which  was  on  the  east 
side  of  the  creek. 

"Powsheek  asked,  where  they  would 
winter  and  where  they  would  cross  the 
Missouri.  It  was  reported  that  some- 
body had  stolen  from  the  'Mormons.' 
Powsheek  said  if  he  found  anything, 
he  would  return  it.  .  .  . 

"Powsheek  spoke  of  Joseph  Smith, 
the  prophet,  who  had  been  murdered 
and  with  whom  he  had  been  ac- 
quainted; said,  the  prophet  was  a  great 
and  good  man. 

"As  the  Presidency  passed  out  of  the 
tent,  Banquejappa,  a  Pottawatomie 
[sic]  Chief,  called  us  aside,  and  pre- 
sented a  paper  counseling  the  Indians 
not  to  sell  their  lands,  given  them  by 
Jon.  Dunham,  and  two  sheets  of 
hieroglyphics,  from  the  Book  of  Abra- 
ham.    President  B.   Young  started  at 


ten  minutes  after  eight,  rode  till 
twenty-two  minutes  after  ten,  when 
they  stopped  at  the  west  branch  of 
the  Nodaway,  with  Ezra  Chase;  they 
resumed  their  journev  at  half  past 
eleven  and  arrived  at  Pottawatomie 
Indian  village  forty  five  minutes  after 
one  p.m. 

"A  Pottawatomie  captain  presented 
two  sheets  of  the  Book  of  Abraham; 
also  a  letter  from  their  'Father'  Joseph 
Smith,  dated  1843,  and  a  map  of  their 
land  by  W.  W.  Phelps " 

The  location  of  these  meetings  was 
in  western  Iowa,  where  the  Saints  were 
establishing  themselves  at  Council 
Bluffs,  Mount  Pisgah,  and  other  camps 
in  preparation  for  the  winter  of  1846, 
previous  to  the  general  exodus  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains  a  year  later.  The 
West  Nodaway  River  generally  ranges 
45-55  miles  east  and  southeast  of 
present-day  Omaha,  Nebraska.  From 
Church  history,  it  appears  that  Brig- 
ham Young  was  moving  westward  to- 
ward Council  Bluffs  at  the  time. 

This  startling  entry  presents  many 
questions:  1)  Were  two  different 
presentations  being  made  of  the  Book 
of  Abraham  material,  or  is  the  second 
reference  supposed  to  be  an  amplifica- 
tion of  the  first  reference? 

2)  Are  there  two  presentations,  one 
involving  actual  papyrus  fragments, 
the  other  involving  a  presentation  of 
printed  sheets  from  the  Book  of  Abra- 
ham printed  in  the  Times  and  Seasons, 


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February  1968 


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which  the  second  In- 
dian captain  had  ac- 
quired somehow  and 
presented  as  a  ges- 
ture of  friendship  to 
Brigham  Young? 

3)  Do  both  presen- 
tations involve  news- 
paper  clippings? 

4)  Since  Baque- 
jappa  was  acquainted 
with  the  Prophet, 
did  the  Prophet,  in  a 
gesture  of  affection 
to  the  Indian  chief, 
give  him  some  pieces 
of  papyrus  that  from 
his  study  the  Prophet 
knew  were  not  im- 
portant to  the  Book 
of  Abraham?  (As 
noted  above,  Dr. 
Hugh  Nibley  asserts 
that  the  Church  His- 
torian's fragment  is 
from  the  Book  of  the 
Dead.) 

5)  If  these  were 
actual  papyri  frag- 
ments being  returned, 
were  they  part  of 
that  which  was  "re- 
ported that  somebody 
had  stolen  from  the 
'Mormons'  "? 

6)  Did  some  In- 
dians, while  visiting 
with  Joseph  Smith, 
steal  some  papers 
and  papyrus  from 
him,  his  office,  or 
Church  buildings? 
Why  did  the  Baque- 
jappa  call  the  men 
"aside" — a  feeling  of 
guilt? 

Since  the  Indians 
had  a  letter  from  the 
Prophet,  and  appar- 
ently were  acquaint- 
ed with  him,  the 
setting  is  such  that  it 
is  certainly  possible 
that  the  Indians 
could  have  acquired 
through  some  means 
some  actual  papyrus 
ragments. 

7)  But  perhaps  the 
biggest  unanswered 
question  is:  If  the 
presentation  actually 
did  involve  two 
papyrus  fragments,  is 
the  newly  named 
Church      Historian's 

ragment  one  of 
those  fragments? 
And   if   so,   where   is 

///  B.  Court  of  Osiris 
(Thoth  recording) 


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IV.    Framed  ("Trinity")  papyrus 

the  other  fragment?  Numerous 
questions  come  to  mind. 

But  the  story  is  not  yet  fin- 
ished. To  add  strength  to  the 
possibility  that  the  Pota- 
watami  Indians  actually 
could  have  obtained  some 
manuscripts,  perhaps  even  as 
a  gift  from  the  Prophet  Joseph 
Smith,  the  following  entries 
from  the  Documentary  His- 
tory of  the  Church  are  pre- 
sented: 1)  Under  date  of 
Saturday,  June  24,  1843:  "Sev- 
eral of  the  Pottawatomie  [sic] 
Indians  called  to  see  the 
Nauvoo  House  and  Temple. 
They  wanted  to  talk,  hut  their 
interpreter  could  not  speak 
much."  According  to  Dr.  T. 
Edgar  Lyon,  well-known 
Church  historian  associated 
with  Nauvoo  Restoration, 
Inc.,  Nauvoo  was  a  prominent 
spot  for  Indians  and  was 
called  by  them  Quashquema. 
Indian         burial  grounds 

abounded  in  the  area.  The 
Potawatami  Indians  were 
there,  being  ever  pressed 
westward  by  settlers  since 
their  expulsion  from  the  area 
around  Lake  Michigan  in 
1833.  A  famous  American 
Indian  war,  the  Black  Hawk 
War,  was  also  waged  in  this 
vicinity.  At  any  event,  when 
these  Indians  arrived,  the 
Prophet  Joseph  was  not  in 
town.  He  had  been  forcefully 
taken  the  day  before  by  two 
sheriffs  from  Missouri,  who 
transported  him  under  false 
arrest  to  Dixon,  Lee  County, 
Illinois,  some  140  miles  north- 
east of  Nauvoo.  He  was  re- 
leased several  days  later  under 
a  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

2)  Under  date  of  Sunday, 
July  2,  1843:  "I  had  an  inter- 
view with  several  Pottawat- 
tamie [sic]  chiefs,  who  came 
to  see  me  during  my  ab- 
sence." Following  this  state- 
ment, the  Prophet  had 
included  "Interview  with  Pot- 
tawattamie Chiefs.  (From 
Wilford  Woodruff's  Jour- 
nal.)," which  contains  the 
following:  "The  Indian  chiefs 
remained  at  Nauvoo  until  the 
Prophet  returned  and  had  his 
trial.  During  their  stay  they 
had  a  talk  with  Hyrum  Smith 
in  the  basement  of  the  Nau- 
voo House.  .  .  .  They  were  not 
free  to  talk,  and  did  not  wish 
to  communicate  their  feelings 
until  they  could  see  the  great 
Prophet.  At  length,  on  the  2nd 

V.    The  serpent  with  legs    — ► 


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V77.    Man  with  sta/f 
(entering  into  glory) 


day  of  July,  1843,  President 
Joseph  Smith  and  several  of 
the  Twelve  met  those  chiefs 
in  the  court-room,  with  about 
twenty  of  the  elders.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  synopsis  of  the 
conversation  which  took  place 
as  given  by  the  interpreter: 
The  Indian  orator  arose  and 
asked  the  Prophet  if  the  men 
who  were  present  were  all  his 
friends.    Answer — yes. 

"He  then  said — 'We  as  a 
people  have  long  been  dis- 
tressed and  oppressed.  We 
have  been  driven  from  our 
lands  many  times.  .  .  .  We 
have  talked  with  the  Great 
Spirit,  and  the  Great  Spirit 
has  talked  with  us.  We  have 
asked  the  Great  Spirit  to  save 
us  and  let  us  live;  and  the 
Great  Spirit  has  told  us  that 
he  had  raised  up  a  great 
Prophet,  chief  and  friend,  who 
would  do  us  great  good  and 
tell  us  what  to  do;  and  the 
Great  Spirit  has  told  us  that 
you  are  the  man  (pointing  to 
the  Prophet  Joseph).  We  have 
now  come  a  great  way  to  see 
you,  and  hear  your  words, 
and  to  have  you  to  tell  us 
what  to  do.  Our  horses  have 
become  poor  traveling,  and 
we  are  hungry.  We  will  now 
wait  and  hear  your  word.' 
The  Spirit  of  God  rested  upon 
the  Lamanites,  especially  the 
orator.  Joseph  was  much 
affected  and  shed  tears.  He 
arose  and  said  unto  them:  'I 
have  heard  your  words.  They  are  true.  The 
Great  Spirit  has  told  you  the  truth.  I  am 
your  friend  and  brother,  and  I  wish  to  do 
you  good.  .  .  . 

The  Great  Spirit  has  given  me  a  book, 
and  told  me  that  you  will  soon  be  blessed 
again.  The  Great  Spirit  will  soon  begin  to 
talk  with  you  and  your  children.  This  is  the 
book  which  your  fathers  made.  I  wrote  upon 
it  |  showing  them  the  Book  of  Mormon  |. 
This  tells  you  what  you  will  have  to  do.  i 
now  want  you  to  begin  to  pray  to  the  Great 
Spirit.  I  want  you  to  make  peace  with  one 
another,  and  do  not  kill  any  more  Indians; 
it  is  not  good.  Do  not  kill  white  men;  it  is 
not  good;  but  ask  the  Great  Spirit  for  what 
you  want,  and  it  will  not  be  long  before  the 
Great  Spirit  will  bless  you,  and  you  will 
cultivate  the  earth  and  build  good  houses 
like  white  men.  We  will  give  you  something 
to  eat  and  to  take  home  with  you.' 

"When  the  prophet's  words  were  inter- 
preted to  the  chiefs,  they  all  said  it  was 
good.   .   .   . 

"At  the  close  of  the  interview,  Joseph  had 
an   ox   killed    for   them,    and  — ► 

they     were     furnished     with  VIII. 

some  more  horses.  .  .  ."  (Ital-  Inverted 

ics  added.)  triangle 


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In  addition  to  this  brief 
information,  which  certainly 
portrays  a  picture  of  emo- 
tion and  deep  respect  between 
the  Potawatami  Indians  and 
the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith,  the 
date  of  the  event  is  most  im- 
portant. It  is  July  1843,  more 
than  a  year  after  the  Book  of 
Abraham  had  first  been  print- 
ed in  Times  and  Seasons  in 
1842.  By  now  the  Prophet 
knew  which  pieces  of  papyrus 
were  important,  in  terms  of 
religious  scripture,  and  which 
were  not. 

During  the  Indians'  stay, 
and  in  a  gesture  of  lasting 
friendship,  the  Prophet  may 
have  given  them  either  pages 
from  Times  and  Seasons, 
which  featured  Book  of  Abra- 
ham facsimiles,  or  perhaps 
some  actual  papyrus  frag- 
ments, or  both.  Thus,  in  addi- 
tion to  food  and  horses,  the 
Prophet  may  have  wished  to 
give  the  Indians  a  personal 
token,  something  of  value  or 
of  antiquity  to  demonstrate 
his  affection  and  bond  with 
them.  At  any  event,  it  seems 
apparent  that  whatever  it  was 
that  the  Indians  gave  to  Brig- 
ham  Young  in  1846  was  that 
which  they  had  obtained 
during  their  1843  Nauvoo 
visit  with  the  Prophet  Joseph 
Smith.  It  is  certainly  a  most 
intriguing  puzzle.  — ► 


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With  our  readers,  the  staff  anticipation  to  additional  de- 
of  The  Improvement  Era  will  velopments  in  this  fascinating 
be  looking  forward  with  eager      story,  and  to  the  unfolding  of 

the    meaning    of    the    hiero- 


IX.    Church  Historian's  fragment 


\ 


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XI.   Small  "Sensen"  text  (unillustrated) 


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continued  from  page  39 


Keep 
the 


•      • 


•  In  our  exacting  lives,  we  are  either  growing 
spiritually  or  we  are  losing  ground.  We  either 
feed  the  spirit  or  it  withers  and  dies.  There  is  no 
neutral  course.  If  we  have  not  grown  spiritually' 
during  the  Sabbath  day,  of  what  value  has  it  been 
to  us?  We  may  have  obtained  much-needed 
physical  relaxation,  but  we  would  be  foolish  in- 
deed to  overlook  the  fact  that  the  finest  care  of 
the  physical  self  is  no  substitute  for  the  neglect 
of  the  soul. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  was  once  asked  by  a  soldier 
if  he  could  not  worship  God  while  in  the  moun- 
tains as  well  as  in  church  on  Sunday.  Roosevelt 
promptly  replied,  "You  could,  but  you  don't."  It 
is  true  that  Moses  found  God  on  a  mountain,  and 
Joseph  Smith  found  him  in  a  grove  of  trees,  but, 
as  has  been  pointed  out,  neither  of  them  had  a 
golf  club  or  was  carrying  a  fishing  pole  in  his  hand 
at  the  time. 

William  E.  Berrett  writes,  "It  takes  proper 
environment  to  induce  deep  thinking  and  deep 
feeling.  It  requires  the  harmony  of  soul  that  is 
accomplished  in  prayer  or  song.  It  needs  the 
assuring  presence  of  others  reaching  for  the  same 
things  in  order  to  quicken  the  spirit  within  us.  It 
requires  the  spirit  of  God  to  reach  out  and  kindle 
the  flame  of  our  own  spirit.  Jesus  said,  'Where 
two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 
there  I  will  be  in  the  midst  of  them.'  " 

You  may  remember  the  story  of  the  two  min- 
isters who  were  mulling  over  some  of  the  time- 
worn  excuses  for  not  attending  church.  They  de- 
cided to  apply  these  excuses  for  not  attending 
church  to  something  people  like  to  do,  such  as 
going  to  the  movies.     They  came  up  with  this 

list: 

1.  I  don't  attend  the  movies  because  the  man- 
ager of  the  theater  has  never  visited  me. 

2.  I  did  go  a  few  times,  but  no  one  spoke  to  me. 
Those  who  go  there  aren't  very  friendly. 

3.  Every  time  I  go  they  ask  me  for  money. 

4.  Not  all  folks  who  go  to  the  movies  live  up 
to  the  high  standards  of  the  film. 

5.  I  went  to  the  movies  so  much  as  a  child  I've 
decided  I  have  had  all  the  entertainment  I  need. 

6.  The  performance  lasts  too  long;  I  can't  sit 
still  for  an  hour  and  a  half. 

42 


Day 
Holy 


By  Steve 
Sorensen 

(Freshman 
at  Yale 

University ; 
from  Capitol 

Hill  Ward, 

Salt  Lake 
Stake) 


7.  I  don't  always  agree  with  what  I  hear  and 
see  there. 

8.  I  don't  think  they  have  very  good  music. 

9.  The  shows  are  held  in  the  evening,  and  that's 
the  only  time  I  have  to  be  home  with  family. 
We  can  see  how  ridiculous  these  excuses  seem 

when  they  are  used  in  this  manner.  In  June  1959 
Presidents  David  0.  McKay,  J.  Reuben  Clark,  Jr., 
and  Henry  D.  Moyle  of  the  First  Presidency  issued 
the  following  in  a  statement  concerning  the 
Sabbath : 

"The  Sabbath  is  not  just  another  day  on  which 
we  merely  rest  from  work,  free  to  spend  it  as  our 
light-mindedness  may  suggest.  It  is  a  holy  day, 
the  Lord's  day,  to  be  spent  as  a  day  of  worship 
and  reverence.  All  matters  extraneous  thereto 
should  be  shunned. 

"This  is  a  Holy  Day  of  the  Lord,  on  which  we 
are  commanded  to  pour  out  our  souls  in  gratitude 
for  the  many  blessings  of  health,  strength,  physi- 
cal comfort,  and  spiritual  joy  which  come  from 
the  Lord's  bounteous  hand." 

President  McKay  has  further  commented  on 
our  conduct  when  we  do  come  to  Church  on  Sun- 
day. He  states:  "When  you  enter  a  church  build- 
ing, you  are  coming  into  the  presence  of  our 
Father  in  heaven;  and  that  thought  should  be 
sufficient  incentive  for  you  to  prepare  your  hearts, 
your  minds,  and  even  your  attire,  that  you  might 
appropriately  and  properly  sit  in  his  pres- 
ence. .  .  ." 

In  conclusion,  William  E.  Berrett  suggests  five 
questions  to  ask  ourselves  each  Sabbath  day : 

1.  Have  I  this  day  learned  one  new  spiritual 
truth? 

2.  Have  I  come  one  whit  closer  to  understand- 
ing and  loving  my  f ellowman  ? 

3.  Have  I  resolved  anew  to  become  in  my  words 
and  actions  more  like  Jesus  Christ? 

4.  Have  I  renewed  my  solemn  covenants  with 
God? 

5.  Have  I  kept  my  mind  unhampered  by 
thoughts  of  violence,  financial  schemes,  petty 
jealousies,  or  sordid  desires? 

If  we  can  answer  "yes"  to  all  of  these,  we  may 
be  sure  that  we  have  indeed  kept  the  Sabbath 
day  holy.  q 

Era  of  Youth 


Youth  speaks 

to  someone  important — 

Elder  Marion  G.  Romney  of  the 

Council  of  the  Twelve — about  the 

Sustaining  Power 

of  the 

Holy  Ghos 

Q.  Elder  Romney,  in  seminary  we  are 
considering  the  question  of  the  sustaining 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  What  happens 
when  we  receive  the  witness  of  the  Holy 
Ghost? 

One  who  receives  the  witness  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  has  a  sure  knowledge  that  God  lives; 
that  he  is  our  Father  in  heaven;  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  our  Elder  Brother  in  the  spirit 
and  the  Only  Begotten  of  the  Father  in  the 
flesh,  our  Savior  and  Redeemer.  Such  a  one 
knows  that  the  universal  order  in  the  heav- 
ens above,  in  the  earth  beneath,  and  in  the 
waters  under  the  earth,  all  give  evidence 
that  God  lives;  he  knows  that  the  testimonies 
of  the  prophets  concerning  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost  are  accurate  and  true. 
Secure  in  this  knowledge,  his  life  has 
purpose.  The  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  becomes 
for  him  what  Paul  said  it  is:  "The  power  of 
God  unto  salvation."  (Rom.  1:16.) 

February  1968 


■  *»»  *M 

mV    ^Jntf 

Enthusiasm  and  the  ability  to  make 
new- and  additional  opportunities  are 
qualities  that  prompted  the  MIA  general 
board  to  create  30  more  honor  badges 
after  Esther  Oeknick  had  completed  the 
required  Beehive  honor  badges.  Esther 
is  chorister  of  the  MIA  in  the  German 
Speaking  Ward  in  Salt  Lake  City. 


A  jazz-singing  Mormon  girl  is  win- 
ning a  name  for  herself  in  the  collegiate 
jazz  festivals  of  America.  She  is  Brig- 
ham  Young  University  undergraduate 
Cheryln  Olson.  She  took  second  place 
in  one  international  collegiate  event  in 
Florida  and  looks  forward  to  bigger 
stakes  this  year.  She  has  made  a  major 
recording  release  and  has  appeared  on 
several  TV  shows. 


with  the 


We  talked  with  members  of  the 
Centerville  (Utah)  Fourth  Ward  of  Davis 
Stake,  and  they  were  charmed  indeed 
by  the  two-day  charm  school  for  all 
MIA  girls  and  their  mothers.  A  per- 
sonal invitation  in  the  form  of  a  dress 
pattern  brought  enthusiastic  crowds  to 
hear  about  hair  styling,  manners, 
grooming,  and  social  graces,  and  to 
see  a  fashion  show  culminating  in  a 
wedding  party.  The  bride  was  Linda 
Duncan,  who  paused  on  the  runway  in 
her  own  wedding  gown  and  spoke  of 
the  beauty  of  a  temple  marriage.  Other 
speakers  included  Noma  Kjar,  Barbara 
Sylvester,  Margaret  Farmer,  Loretta 
Tolman,  lla  Devereaux,  Frankie  Free- 
man, and  Joan  Roybal. 


Era  of  Youth 


Denver  is  a  stop-off  point  for  many      nomination  for  President  of  the  United 


travelers,  and  when  George  Romney,  a 
Latter-day    Saint    who    is    seeking   the 


Editors 


States,  and  Sister  Romney  made  such  a 
stop,  there  were  some  excited  youth  on 
hand  to  greet  them.  Most  excited  was 
Randy  Dunbar,  who  enjoyed  a  special 
birthday  treat  in  being  guest  at  break- 
fast with  the  celebrities. 


Next  time  you  thumb  through  your 
Seventeen  magazine  or  watch  a  young 
adult  cosmetic  commercial  on  TV,  keep 
your  eyes  open  for  an  active  LDS  girl 
named  Laurie  Gunter  from  Queens 
(New  York)  Ward,  Long  Island  Stake, 
who  is  a  professional  model.  Laurie 
is  an  honor  roll  student  and  yell  leader 
at  high  school  and  the  girls'  athletic 
director  for  her  ward. 


February  1968 


46 


Era  of  Youth 


Scene  with 


"Talent  undeveloped  is  talent  lost," 
someone  said,  but  there  won't  be  much 
of  that  happening  in  Wards  like  Salt 
Lake  City's  Highland  View  2nd!  Put  to- 
gether interested  leaders  like  Bishop 
Jean  McDonough  and  counselors,  tal- 
ented directors  and  designers  like  Pat 
Davis,  Donna  Warner,  and  Cliff  Davis, 
a  musical  like  Annie  Get  Your  Gun,  and 
NINETY-FIVE  CHOICE  YOUNG  PEOPLE 
willing  to  rehearse  at  6  A.M.  daily  for 
three  months,  and  you  have  a  really 
great  experience  that  blessed  partici- 
pants, viewers,  and  the  missionary 
fund. 


the  Editors 


Milling  around  the  BYU  campus,  one 
meets  friends  from  all  over  the  world 
where  Church  service  has  called.  Saw 
new  professor  Joseph  Wood  (former 
bishop,  now  an  MIA  general  board 
member)  greeting  newcomers  Paul 
Larsen  and  Jean  Ahlstrom  from  Idaho 
and  Chris  Lo  Presti  from  California. 


February  1968 


47 


U/U  4&  (pvd^MA^no  more  timely  topic  than  FREEDOM — 
what  iris  and  how  to  get  it.  The  scriptures  have  something 
to  say  about  the  subject.  You'll  profit  from  reading  and 
applying  them. 


"Then  said  Jesus  to  those 
Jews  which  believed  on  him,  If 
ye  continue  in  my  word,  then 
are  ye  my  disciples  indeed; 

"And  ye  shall  know  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
free."  (John  8:30-32.) 

"They  answered  him,  We  be 
Abraham's  seed,  and  were  never 
in  bondage  to  any  man:  how 
sayest  thou,  Ye  shall  be  made 
free? 

"Jesus  answered  them,  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Whoso- 
ever committeth  sin  is  the  ser- 
vant of  sin. 

"And  the  servant  abideth  not 
in  the  house  for  ever:  but  the 
Son  abideth  ever. 

"If  the  Son  therefore  shall 
make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free 
indeed." 

(John  8:30-36.) 

"I,  the  Lord  God,  make  you 
free,  therefore  ye  are  free  in- 
deed; and  the  law  also  maketh 
you  free." 

(D&C  98:8.) 


"And  the  Messiah  cometh  in 
the  fulness  of  time,  that  he  may 
redeem  the  children  of  men 
from  the  fall.  And  because  that 
they  are  redeemed  from  the  fall 
they  have  become  free  forever, 
knowing  good  and  evil ;  to  act  for 
themselves  and  not  to  be  acted 
upon,  save  it  be  by  the  punish- 
ment of  the  law  at  the  great  and 
last  day,  according  to  the  com- 
mandments which  God  hath 
given. 

"Wherefore,  men  are  free  ac- 
cording to  the  flesh;  and  all 
things  are  given  them  which  are 
expedient  unto  man.  And  they 
are  free  to  choose  liberty  and 
eternal  life,  through  the  great 
mediation  of  all  men,  or  to 
choose  captivity  and  death,  ac- 
cording to  the  captivity  and 
power  of  the  devil ;  for  he  seek- 
eth  that  all  men  might  be 
miserable  like  unto  himself. 

"And  now,  my  sons,  I  would 
that  ye  should  look  to  the  great 
Mediator,  and  hearken  unto  his 
great    commandments ;    and    be 


faithful  unto  his  words,  and 
choose  eternal  life,  according  to 
the  will  of  his  Holy  Spirit ; 

"And  not  choose  eternal  death, 
according  to  the  will  of  the  flesh 
and  the  evil  which  is  therein, 
which  giveth  the  spirit  of  the 
devil  power  to  captivate,  to  bring 
you  down  to  hell,  that  he  may 
reign  over  you  in  his  own  king- 
dom." 

(2  Ne.  2:26-29.) 

"But  whoso  looketh  into  the 
perfect  law  of  liberty,  and  con- 
tinueth  therein,  he  being  not  a 
forgetful  hearer,  but  a  doer  of 
the  work,  this  man  shall  be 
blessed  in  his  deed." 

(Jas.  1:25.) 

".  .  .  where  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is,  there  is  liberty." 

(2  Cor.  3:17.) 

"Abide  ye  in  the  liberty 
wherewith  ye  are  made  free; 
entangle  not  yourselves  in  sin, 
but  let  your  hands  be  clean,  un- 
til the  Lord  comes." 

(D&C  88:86.) 

"And  I  will  walk  at  liberty: 
for  I  seek  thy  precepts." 

(Ps.  119:45.) 


48 


Era  of  Youth 


The  Presiding  Bishop 
Talks  to  Youth  About 


RESPECT 


•  During  the  Savior's  earthly  min- 
istry, as  he  associated  with  the  lep- 
ers, the  maimed,  the  wise,  or  as 
he  knelt  in  solemn  prayer  before 
his  Father,  one  senses  that  he  pos- 
sessed a  profound  respect  for 
others.  Even  during  the  trial, 
when  those  he  loved  betrayed  him, 
and  those  he  came  to  serve 
mocked  and  cursed  him,  not  once 
did  he  speak  with  disrespect.  Even 
when  the  mobs  cried;  ''Crucify 
him!  Crucify  him!"  and  he  was 
taken  to  Golgotha  to  suffer  the 
most  excruciating  pains,  his 
thoughts,  were  for  the  welfare  of 
his  mother,  for  those  he  loved, 
and  even  for  those  who  drove  nails 
into  his  hands,  and  a  disdainful 
word  never  parted  his  lips. 

Young  men  and  women,  it  is 
this  great  characteristic  of  respect 
that  I  would  like  to  consider  with 
you.  This  is  a  virtue  that  is  often 
difficult  for  young  people  to  fully 
appreciate;  yet  it  is  a  characteristic 
of  maturity,  dignity,  and  greatness. 
While  respect  is  a  virtue  that  has 
application  in  each  phase  of  our 
lives,  may  I  discuss  with  you  its 
application  in  some  areas  that  seem 
of  particular  importance  in  our 
day. 

Respect  for  Parents 

From  the  time  of  Adam,  to 
Sinai,  to  our  day,  the  responsi- 
bility of  youth  to  respect  their 
parents  has  been  with  us.  Great 
men  have  always  respected  their 
parents.  As  Christ,  our  Master, 
the  greatest  of  all,  hung  bleeding 
on  the  cross,  he  thought  of  his 
mother's  welfare.  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, one  of  the  greatest  of  Amer- 
icans, said  on  one  occasion,  "All 
that  I  am  or  ever  hope  to  be  I 
owe  to  my  angel  mother."  Respect 


for  parents  is  basic  to  true  man- 
hood or  true  womanhood. 

An  account  is  given  of  an 
English  boy  who  was  once  sent  to 
watch  his  father's  field.  On  no  ac- 
count was  he  to  let  anyone  go 
through  it.  The  boy  had  scarcely 
taken  his  post  when  some  hunts- 
men came  up  and  ordered  him  to 
open  the  gate.  He  declined  to  do 
so,  telling  them  that  he  meant  to 
obey  his  father's  instructions.  At 
last  one  of  them  came  up  and 
said  in  a  commanding  voice,  "My 
boy,  you  do  not  know  me,  but  I 
am  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  I  am 
not  accustomed  to  being  diso- 
beyed. I  command  you  to  open 
this  gate." 

The  boy  lifted  his  cap  and  an- 
swered firmly,  "I  am  sure  that  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  would  not 
wish  me  to  obey  his  order.  I 
must  keep  the  gate  shut.  No  one 
can  pass  through  but  by  my  fa- 
ther's express  permission." 

Then  the  Duke  took  off  his  own 
hat  and  said,  "I  honor  the  man  or 
boy  who  can  neither  be  frightened 
nor  bribed  into  disobeying  orders. 
With  an  army  of  such  soldiers  I 
could  conquer  not  only  the 
French  but  the  world." 

Obedience  to  parents  is  the 
most  sublime  form  of  respect.  It 
is  often  the  so-called  little  things 
that  convey  respect.  It  is  well, 
young  men  and  women,  that  you 
realize  how  much  of  what  you  are 
and  what  you  have,  you  owe  to 
your  parents.  There  are  no  people 
in  your  life  more  deserving  of  your 
respect. 

We  often  hear  some  young  peo- 
ple comment  that  they  wish  that 
they  were  given  more  respect, 
and  this  plea  is  not  without  cause. 
Yet  a  basic  rule  of  human  rela- 
tions is  that  "respect  begets  re- 
spect." You  will  find  that  you  will 
gain  respect  from  your  parents 
and  others  as  you  honor  and  re- 
spect them. 

Recently  an  incident  was  told 
by  a  man  whose  form  is  now  bent 


By  Bishop  John  H.  Vandenberg 

and  whose  hair  is  white  with  years. 
When  he  was  in  his  youth,  he  was 
returning  one  evening  from  the 
hay  fields  on  his  father's  farm. 
He  had  been  working  since  day- 
break, when  his  father  met  him 
with  a  request  that  he  go  to  town 
to  do  an  errand.  The  elderly  man 
said: 

"I  was  tired,  dirty,  and  hungry. 
It  was  two  miles  to  town.  I  wanted 
to  get  my  supper.  My  first  impulse 
was  to  refuse,  and  to  do  it  harshly, 
for  I  was  angry  that  my  father 
should  ask  me  to  go  after  my  long 
day's  work.  But  I  knew  that  if  I  did 
refuse,  he  would  go  himself.  'Of 
course,  Father,  I'll  go,'  I  said  heart- 
ily, giving  my  scythe  to  one  of  the 
men.  'Thank  you,  Jim,'  my  father 
replied.  'I  was  going  myself,  but 
somehow  I  don't  feel  very  strong 
today.' 

"He  walked  with  me  to  the 
road  that  turned  off  to  the  town, 
and  as  he  left  me  he  put  his  hand 
on  my  arm  and  said  again,  'Thank 
you,  my  son;  you've  always  been 
a  good  boy  to  me,  Jim. 

"I  hurried  into  town  and  back 
again.  When  I  came  near  the 
house,  I  saw  that  something  un- 
usual had  happened.  All  the  farm- 
hands were  gathered  about  the 
door  instead  of  doing  the  chores. 
When  I  came  nearer,  one  of  the 
men  turned  to  me  with  tears  roll- 
ing down  his  face.  'Your  father,' 
he  said,  'is  dead.  He  fell  just  as  he 
reached  the  house.  His  last  words 
he  spoke  of  you.' 

"I  am  an  old  man  now,  but  I 
thanked  God  over  and  over  again 
in  all  the  years  that  have  passed 
since  that  hour  for  those  last 
words  of  my  father-'You've  always 
been  a  good  boy  to  me.'  " 

Having  respect  for  your  parents 
is  the  first  step  toward  nobility. 

Respect  for  Others 

Respect  is  an  attitude  that  often 
finds  expression  in  what  is  called 
"common  courtesy."  It  is  a  tragedy 
of  our  time  to  find  that  "common 


February  1968 


49 


courtesy"  isn't  as  common  as 
might  be  so.  This  form  of  respect 
and  consideration  is  so  essential 
and  so  basic.  "All  doors  are  open 
to  courtesy,"  said  Thomas  Fuller. 
And  as  Tennyson  observed:  "The 
greater  man  the  greater  courtesy." 

Courtesy  is  a  form  of  respect  that 
is  a  necessary  part  of  a  true  man 
or  a  true  woman.  It  reflects  self- 
confidence  and  self-esteem.  Speak- 
ing in  this  regard,  E.  S.  Martin  said, 
"Self-respect  is  at  the  bottom  of 
all  good  manners.  They  are  the 
expression  of  discipline,  of  good- 
will, of  respect  for  other  people's 
rights,  and  comfort  and  feelings." 

It  is  well,  young  people,  that  we 
examine  ourselves  and  see  that  in 
all  our  actions  we  are  courteous 
and  considerate— with  that  respect 
which  comes  from  within. 

"Nothing,"  said  Cicero,  "is  more 
becoming  a  great  man  than  cour- 
tesy." 


Respect  for  Law 

Respect  for  law  and  civil  author- 
ity is  a  basic  tenet  of  our  beliefs. 
The  Prophet  Joseph  Smith  stated 
that  "we  believe  in  being  subject 
to  kings,  presidents,  rulers,  and 
magistrates,  in  obeying,  honoring, 
and  sustaining  the  law."  This  is 
an  area  that  is  being  mocked  and 
ridiculed  by  some  in  our  society 
today.  In  the  United  States  a  mur- 
der occurs  every  48  minutes,  a 
forcible  rape  every  21  minutes,  a 
robbery  every  31/2  minutes,  an  auto 
theft  every  57  seconds,  a  grand 
larceny  every  35  seconds,  and  a 
burglary  every  23  seconds. 

A  rather  startling  and  tragic  note 
is  that  48  percent  of  the  arrests 
for  serious  crimes  in  the  United 
States  are  of  youths  under  18 
years  of  age. 

President  McKay,  in  comment- 
ing on  this  disrespect  for  law  and 
authority,  quoted  one  of  our  U.  S. 
senators.  He  said,  "America  has 
been  afflicted  over  the  past  three 
or  four  years  by  an  epidemic  of 


acts  of  so-called  civil  disobedi- 
ence. Municipal  ordinances  and 
state  statutes  have  been  wilfully 
and  intentionally  disobeyed  by 
individuals  and  groups.  Private 
property  has  been  subject  to  de- 
liberate trespass.  Mobs  have  taken 
to  the  streets,  interfering  with 
commerce,  creating  public  disor- 
der, and  breaching  the  peace. 
Civil  disobedience  has  at  times 
been  advocated  from  some  of  the 
pulpits  throughout  the  land  and 
encouraged,  upon  occasions,  by 
ill-advised  statements  of  public 
officials.  Mobs  have  frequently 
been  so  large  that  the  police  were 
helpless  to  make  arrests.  These 
acts  of  so-called  disobedience 
have  been  proclaimed  by  impor- 
tant political  personages  to  be  in 
the  finest  American  tradition.  It 
was  said  to  be  good  Christian  doc- 
trine to  disregard  man-made  laws 
which  conflicted  with  one's  own 
conscience,  and,  of  course,  by 
implication,  those  who  enforced 
man-made  laws  were  likewise  to 
be  disregarded.  This  is  indeed  a 
strange  and  false  doctrine.  .  .  ." 
It  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  dec- 
laration of  the  Prophet  Joseph 
Smith,  who  stated  that  "to  the 
laws  all  men  owe  respect  and 
deference.  .  .  ."  (D&C  134:6.) 

This  sets  forth  a  challenge  to 
you  young  men  and  women  of 
the  Church  to  hold  forth  a  light  of 
respect  in  the  midst  of  this  dis- 
dain for  the  laws  and  statutes 
that  have  made  this  land  great. 


Respect  for  Divine 
Authority 

The  Apostle  Paul  had  to  be 
taught  respect  for  authority  before 
he  was  called  to  the  ministry.  The 
Book  of  Acts  tells  of  Saul's  venge- 
ful trip  toward  Damascus,  which 
was  interrupted  when  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  cried  out  to  Saul:  "Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?" 
And  Saul  said,  "Lord,  what  wilt 
thou    have   me   to    do?    And    the 


Lord  said  unto  him,  Arise,  and  go 
into  the  city,  and  it  shall  be  told 
thee  what  thou  must  do."  (Acts 
9:4,  6.) 

Now,  the  Lord  could  have  told 
Saul  in  a  few  words  what  he  was 
to  do,  but  the  Lord  understood 
Saul's  nature,  and  he  knew  that 
Saul  would  find  difficulty  in  rec- 
ognizing and  respecting  the  au- 
thority of  the  Church  leaders,  as 
later  instances  proved.  So  in  an 
effort  to  impress  upon  Saul  the 
vital  importance  of  respecting  the 
authority  of  the  Church,  the  Lord 
sent  the  learned  Saul  to  Ananias, 
the  humble  presiding  officer  of  the 
Church  in  Damascus,  the  very 
man  whom  Saul  was  going  to  ar- 
rest, for  instructions  regarding  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Respect  for  authority  is  basic  in 
our  doctrine.  The  Lord,  in  the 
Doctrine  and  Covenants,  empha- 
sized this  point  when  he  declared: 
"What  I  the  Lord  have  spoken, 
I  have  spoken,  and  I  excuse  not 
myself;  and  though  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  pass  away,  my  word 
shall  not  pass  away,  but  shall  all 
be  fulfilled,  whether  my  mine  own 
voice  or  by  the  voice  of  my  serv- 
ants, it  is  the  same."  (D&C  1:38.) 
There  is  a  great  blessing  for  you 
young  men  of  the  Aaronic  Priest- 
hood and  you  young  ladies,  if 
you'll  grasp  the  implications  of 
this  statement  of  the  Lord.  Look 
to  the  Prophet,  to  your  stake 
president,  and  to  your  bishop; 
respect  their  authority  and  follow 
their  counsel. 

Respect,  as  we  have  said,  is 
basic.  Far  too  frequently  in  our 
present-day  society,  young  people, 
insecure  in  their  false  maturity, 
turn  to  disrespect,  thinking  it  will 
shore-up  their  own  self-image. 
Little  do  they  realize  that  in  so 
doing,  they  are  "betraying  their 
own  right  to  excellence." 

May  we  conclude  by  paraphas- 
ing  a  statement  made  by  President 
McKay:  "Little  men  may  succeed, 
but  without  [respect]  they  can 
never  be  great." 


50 


Improvement  Era 


The  Era  Asks 


About  Genealogy 

in  the 

Church  Today 


Genealogy  has  been  a  widely  discussed  and  much-practiced  art 
throughout  the  Church  the  past  several  years,  and  is  the  subject  of  the 
following  intervieiv.  The  participants  are:  Elder  Theodore  M.  Burton, 
Assistant  to  the  Council  of  the  Twelve,  vice  president  and  general  man- 
ager of  the  Genealogical  Society;  Paid  F.  Royall,  general  secretary  of 
the  Genealogical  Society;  David  E.  Gardner,  analyst  in  genealogy, 
Genealogical  Society;  Ernest  C.  Jeppsen,  dean  of  the  College  of  Indus- 
trial and  Technical  Education,  Brigham  Young  University;  Norman  E. 
Wright,  chairman,  genealogical  research  technology,  BYU;  V.  Ben  Blox- 
ham,  instructor  in  genealogical  research,  BYU. 

Q — Which  of  the  many  changes  Second,  one  of  the  finest  steps 
made  within  the  past  few  years  in  forward  has  been  to  simplify  our 
genealogy  have  influenced  the  procedures.  Our  book  of  instruc- 
work  most?  tions  used  to  be  nearly  two  inches 
Elder  Burton — It's  a  thrilling  thing  thick,  but  we  have  cut  it  to  one- 
to  be  on  the  threshold  of  great  fourth  that  size  and  hope  to 
progress,  and  the  Church  and  the  simplify  it  even  further. 
Genealogical  Society  have  taken  Third,  a  small,  highly  trained 
some  great  strides  forward,  of  core  of  specialists  is  providing  re- 
which  I  can  think  of  nearly  a  dozen,  search  papers  on  various  language 
First,  I  think  that  providing  free  and  genealogical  problems  for  the 
access  to  all  our  genealogical  li-  benefit  of  all  the  Saints  who  will 
brary  facilities  has  done  more  than  read  their  research  papers.  This  is 
any  other  single  thing  to  give  a  fantastic  service! 
impetus  to  research.  Formerly,  one  Fourth,  the  Priesthood  Gene- 
had  to  sign  up  and  then  wait  to  alogical  Committee  members  per- 
obtain  books  or  archive  records;  formed  a  wonderful  mission  as  they 
now  the  books  are  on  open  shelves  went  throughout  the  Church  en- 
on  a  help-yourself  basis.  couraging  genealogical  endeavors. 


Fifth,  the  program  of  putting 
genealogy  into  the  hands  of  the 
priesthood,  with  the  stake  presi- 
dents and  bishops  in  charge,  has 
been  of  immense  value. 

Sixth,  the  laboratory  programs 
that  were  designed  to  help  the 
Saints  get  the  feel  of  genealogical 
work  have  caught  fire  and  enlisted 
a  remarkable  portion  of  the  Church 
membership.  These  include  the 
MIA  "genealogy  in  action"  classes, 
the  three-generation  program,  con- 


Elder  T.  M.  Burton  ponders  question. 


February  1968 


51 


sisting  of  seven  family  group  sheets, 
and  the  fourth-generation  program, 
consisting  of  eight  family  group 
sheets.  With  these  programs  we 
have  tried  to  lift  people  out  of 
classroom  situations  into  laboratory 
situations  where  they  actually  work 
on  genealogy.  You  see,  in  genealogy 
one  learns  faster  by  doing  than  by 
listening. 

There  are  other  steps  that  have 
contributed  to  the  great  rise  in 
interest  in  genealogy,  but  these  are 
some  of  the  important  ones  of  the 
past  few  years. 

Q — Are  the  three-  and  fourth-gen- 
eration programs  to  be  continued? 
Elder  Burton — Yes,  because  this  is 
an  extremely  efficient  training 
program  for  new  converts  coming 
into  the  Church  and  for  our  Saints 
who  reactivate  themselves  in  the 
Church  or  in  genealogy.  Also, 
many  new  families  come  into  the 
Church  through  the  marriages  of 
our  own  youth.  Thus,  there  will 
always  be  a  need  for  a  training 
program  in  genealogy. 

Q — Do  Latter-day  Saints  supply 
sufficient  names  for  temple  work? 
Elder  Burton — No,     we     couldn't 


Paul  Royall   notes   stature    of    Gene- 
alogical   Society    to    Jay    M.     Todd. 


keep  the  temples  operating  at  top 
capacity  if  we  relied  solely  on  the 
present  rate  of  research  by  Latter- 
day  Saints.  Because  of  this  situa- 
tion, we  had  to  create  the  records 
tabulation  program,  or  the  extract- 
ing of  names  and  data  from  copies 
of  parish  registers  for  temple 
work.  But  we  hope  to  develop  a 
program  whereby  the  Saints  can 
supply  sufficient  names  to  keep  the 
temples  operating.  Perhaps  the 
time  will  come  when  the  program 
of  providing  names  for  temple 
work  can  be  centered  on  the  stake 
level.  However,  as  we  build  more 
and  more  temples,  perhaps  we  will 
see  the  day  when  no  matter  how 
many  names  the  Saints  supply,  we 
will  still  need  names  from  parish 
records. 

Q — How  do  you  feel  about  the 
state  of  involvement  of  the  Saints 
in  genealogy? 

Elder  Burton — During  the  past  six 
years  we  noticed  a  decrease  of  ac- 
tivity, but  that  trend  has  been 
arrested,  and  we  are  starting  to 
climb  again.  Many  reasons  ac- 
counted for  the  decrease,  including 
the  speed  of  present-day  life,  but  a 
new  and  significant  interest  in 
genealogy  is  manifesting  itself,  and 
we  are  most  thrilled  with  it.  Also, 
the  accuracy  and  the  quality  of 
research  work  done  by  the  Saints 
are  improving.  A  sense  of  respon- 
sibility for  doing  better  work  is 
manifesting  itself  very  much — and 
that  is  a  marvelous  thing  when  you 
think  of  it. 

Q — Will  the  day  ever  come  when 
the  Saints  will  be  able  to  check 
records  out  of  the  genealogical 
libraries  and  take  them  home  for 
study? 

Elder  Burton — Not  in  the  near  fu- 
ture. Under  the  present  arrange- 
ment, all  records  must  stay  in  the 
buildings.  But  we  are  expanding 
branch  libraries  as  fast  as  we  can. 


At  present  we  have  61  branch  li- 
braries and  supply  so  many  micro- 
filmed copies  of  records  to  all  our 
libraries  that  we  have  three  large 
duplicating  machines  running  over- 
time. The  Church  is  the  largest 
individual  consumer  of  microfilm  in 
the  world— not  counting  the  U.S. 
government  as  a  whole,  although 
we  do  consume  more  microfilm 
than  any  single  government  agency. 

Q — The  program  of  microfilming 
original  records  throughout  the 
world  has  been  well  publicized, 
but  is  it  possible  for  the  data  on 
the  records  to  be  indexed  so  the 
Saints  could  quickly  identify  in- 
formation found  therein? 
Elder  Burton — We  are  presently 
experimenting  with  several  stakes 
in  an  indexing  program  of  this  type. 
For  example,  the  Springville 
(Utah)  Stake  is  indexing  the  rec- 
ords from  Iceland.  They  compile 
the  census  records  and  index  them 
alphabetically.  Some  of  the  stakes 
in  the  Pacific  are  doing  the  same 
thing  with  Polynesian  records.  If 
these  experiments  prove  fruitful, 
we  will  ask  more  stakes  to 
cooperate. 

It  is  amazing  what  modern  tech- 
nology and  facilities  can  do  for  us. 
For  instance,  20  years  ago,  if  one 
was  interested  in  Danish  research, 
he  would  probably  go  to  Denmark, 
face  language  difficulties,  trans- 
portation difficulties,  problems  in 
locating  records,  and  the  problem 
of  spending  sufficient  time  with 
the  records  to  make  his  trip  suc- 
cessful, and  then  be  confronted 
with  the  problem  of  trying  to  read 
a  foreign  language  in  a  script  that 
might  be  archaic.  Today,  however, 
with  modern  methods  of  micro- 
filming, the  records  of  Denmark 
and  many  other  lands  are  brought 
to  our  genealogical  libraries,  and 
volunteer  workers  are  translating 
the  foreign  archaic  script  into  Eng- 
lish.    In  a  few   days   of  constant 


52 


Improvement  Era 


research,  one  can  now  find  informa- 
tion that  previously  would  have 
taken  years  of  research. 

Q — What  is  the  stature  of  the 
Church  and  its  Genealogical  So- 
ciety among  professional  orga- 
nizations? 

Royal  I — It  is  becoming  a  common 
occurrence  to  hear  professionals 
speak  of  the  Church's  Genealogical 
Society  as  the  largest  and  best- 
equipped  in  the  world.  And  our 
rather  sudden  rise  to  this  stature 
within  a  10-  to  20-year  period  is 
remarkable.  We  receive  many 
letters  requesting  the  society  to 
send  its  specialists  to  various  pro- 
fessional genealogical  organizations 
on  speaking  assignments.  Often, 
we  have  been  able  to  oblige  them 
if  one  of  our  people  has  had  a  stake 
conference  assigment  nearby.  The 
stature  and  opening  of  doors  that 
have  come  from  this  kind  of  fellow- 
ship have  been  truly  inspiring. 

Q — What  has  been  the  response 
to  the  research  papers  that  you 
have  published  through  the  Era? 
(See  page  22  of  this  issue.) 
Elder  Burton — There  has  been  a 
tremendous  upsurge  of  interest  by 
our  own  members,  and  we  have  a 
large  file  of  complimentary  letters 
from  other  professional  genealogi- 
cal organizations,  which  often  as 
not  offer  to  trade  or  exchange 
some  of  their  records  for  copies  of 
ours.  This  is  an  excellent  way  to 
increase  our  library  at  minimal  cost. 
By  the  way,  it  is  often  necessary  to 
buy  collections  of  records,  so  we 
welcome  contributions! 

Q — With  the  acquisition  of  rec- 
ords from  around  the  world,  how 
have  you  coped  with  the  in- 
creased need  for  qualified  re- 
searchers to  assist  Saints  in 
genealogical  research  problems? 
Elder  Burton — This  answer  in- 
cludes   another   of   the    significant 


steps  forward.  Instead  of  the 
Genealogical  Society  providing 
trained  researchers  for  the  Saints, 
it  was  decided  that  we  would 
begin  a  system  of  accrediting  re- 
searchers. Anyone  with  the  neces- 
sary training  and  knowledge  could 
take  an  examination  to  determine 


his  competency.  We  have  over 
one  hundred  such  accredited  re- 
searchers. Thus,  those  who  have 
particular  genealogical  research 
needs  can  hire  accredited  research- 
ers for  difficult  problems.  In  this 
we  have  been  helped  considerably 
by  Brigham  Young  University  and 


Richard   L   Evans 

The  Spoken  Word 


At  times  we  may  feel  the  pressure  of  people.  But  when  we  feel 
crowded  or  impatient  with  people,  we  may  well  think  how  empty 
and  dreary,  how  lonely  and  poor  and  purposeless  life  would  be 
without  those  who  live  with  us  and  around  us.  "If  a  wise  man  were 
granted  a  life  of  abundance  of  everything  material,  so  that  he  had  leisure 
to  contemplate  everything  worth  knowing,"  said  Cicero,  "still  if  he  could 
not  communicate  with  another  human  being  he  would  abandon  life."1 
In  many  places,  we  could  still  spread  out  and  live  hermit-like  and  see 
less  of  others,  if  we  wanted  to,  but  we  come  together  for  convenience, 
for  skills  and  services,  for  education,  for  cultural  enrichment.  We  owe 
a  debt  to  others  for  food  prepared,  for  medicines  and  those  who  admin- 
ister them,  for  shelter  and  conveniences,  and  for  services  and  safety; 
but  more  than  this— for  a  broadening  of  life,  for  company  and  companion- 
ship, for  just  being  there,  for  relieving  us  of  sheer  loneliness.  And  since 
this  is  so,  among  life's  foremost  lessons  is  to  learn  to  get  along,  and  to 
see  and  consider  what  other  people  really  mean  to  us.  There  can  be 
too  many.  Life  can  become  cluttered.  People  can  be  too  impersonal. 
But  there  could  also  be  too  few,  with  poverty  of  ideas  and  emptiness  of 
life.  And  with  too  few,  we  soon  would  sense  not  only  our  dependence 
on  others,  but  the  blessing  of  knowing  there  is  someone  there  and  the 
debt  we  owe  each  other  for  the  mere  fact  of  human  feeling.  At  home, 
and  worldwide,  we  need  more  of  appreciation  and  less  of  fault-finding, 
that  the  warmth  and  goodwill  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  the  Master  of  man- 
kind, may  move  more  among  us,  with  more  awareness  of  what  we  owe 
to  others.  Despite  all  misunderstandings,  despite  all  problems  and 
impatience,  we  owe  something  to  all  the  people  there  are,  for  the  en- 
richment and  variety  of  life,  for  the  simple  privilege  of  association.  For 
this,  and  for  much  more,  we  owe  each  other  kindness  and  care  and  con- 
sideration. "No  man  is  an  island,"2  wrote  John  Donne.  There  is  no 
one  who  doesn't  need  others,  whether  he  knows  it  or  not. 

MDicero,  quoted  in  The  Royal  Bank  of  Canada  Monthly  Letter,  "Communication  Is  Vital,"  Vol.  48, 

No.  10. 

2John  Donne,  Seventh  Century  Meditation,  No.   17. 

*  "The  Spoken  Word"  from  Temple  Square,  presented  over  KSL  and  the  Columbia 
Broadcasting  System  December  3,  1967.    Copyright  1967. 


February  1968 


53 


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NAME 

ADDRESS 

CITY,  STATE,  ZIP.. 


54 


its  staff  of  experts  in  genealogy. 
Wright — Since  we  started  our  two- 
year  genealogical  course  program 
at  BYU  six  years  ago,  we  have 
graduated  51  students  in  the  pro- 
gram, from  which  14  of  these  stu- 
dents have  applied  and  successfully 
passed  the  accreditation  examina- 
tion. Some  of  the  graduates  are 
doing  professional  genealogy  work 
full  time,  others  part-time. 

Q — How  many  universities  offer 
credit  or  a  degree  in  this  type  of 
research? 

Jeppsen — There  is  no  university  in 
the  U.S.,  including  BYU,  that  gives 
a  bachelor's  degree  in  genealogical 
research.  We  do  give  an  associate 
degree,  however,  which  is  a  two- 
year  degree  for  technicians.  We  are 
studying  the  possibility  of  a  bache- 
lor's degree  in  genealogical  re- 
search and  library  science.  Student 
interest  in  genealogical  classes  at 
BYU  has  been  very  high.  A  few 
other  schools,  such  as  American 
University  in  Washington,  D.C.,  do 
give  credit  classes  in  genealogical 
research.  At  one  time  at  least  one 
university  in  Germany  offered  a 
degree  in  genealogical  research. 
Bloxham — Both  the  University  of 


V.  Ben  Bloxham  and  David  E.  Gardner 
add  research  know-how  to  interview. 


Improvement  Era 


Arizona  at  Tucson  and  the 
California  State  Department  of 
Continuing  Education  teach  gene- 
alogical research. 

Gardner — Several  universities  in 
England  provide  course  work  in 
related  fields,  particularly  the  Uni- 
versity of  London  and  the  Uni- 
versity of  Kent.  The  latter  school 
is  building  a  full-degree  program 
in  the  area  of  history,  genealogy, 
and  family  history. 
Elder  Burton — In  line  with  what 
other  universities  are  doing,  I  think 
Latter-day  Saints  can  take  pride  in 
what  BYU  is  doing  to  assist  the 
Saints  and  the  Church  through  its 
genealogical  course  work.  But 
what  should  be  of  widespread  in- 
terest to  all  genealogically  minded 
Latter-day  Saints  is  our  priesthood 
genealogy  seminar  held  annually  at 
BYU. 

Q — Who  is  invited  to  attend  this 
seminar? 

Elder  Burton — Anyone  who  is  in- 
terested in  genealogy  and  the 
priesthood  aspects  of  it. 
Gardner — This  certainly  would  in- 
clude those  who  hold  ward  and 
stake  positions  that  deal  with  gene- 
alogy: stake  presidents,  high  coun- 


cilors, bishops,  high  priest  group 
leaders,  quorum  presidencies,  ward 
record  examiners,  instructors, 
branch  librarians.  About  800 
people  attended  last  year's  seminar. 

Q — What  is  the  schedule  for  the 
next  seminar? 

Elder  Burton — Beginning  Monday, 
August  12,  through  Friday,  August 
16,  on  the  BYU  campus,  we  will 
intently  study  aspects  of  genealogy. 
Each  day  a  General  Authority  will 
speak. 

Throughout  the  week  we  will 
study  such  things  as  how  to 
obtain  ■  genealogical  information 
from  the  Genealogical  Society, 
how  to  use  the  Pedigree  Referral 
Service,  how  to  get  information 
from  the  Temple  Records  Index 
Bureau,  how  to  get  information 
from  archives,  how  to  use  gene- 
alogical branch  libraries.  We  will 
be  studying  beginning  and  ad- 
vanced research  methods  and  pro- 
cedures, and  how  to  solve  problems 
in  genealogy.  There  will  be  tech- 
nical courses  on  research  problems 
in  the  U.S.,  Canada,  Latin  Amer- 
ica, and  various  European  countries. 
We  will  also  discuss  priesthood 
genealogy  in  the  future  and  where 


■■■Hi 


Ernest  C.  Jeppsen  and  Norman  E.   Wright  of  Brigham  Young   University's 
genealogical  program  discuss  the  BYU's  contributions  to  genealogy. 


February  1968 


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55 


One  of  the  nicest 
things  we  can  say 
for  Knabe  is  that 
the  Met  won't  sing 


without  it. 


Over  forty  years  ago  the  Metropolitan 
Opera    made    Knabe    its    official    piano. 
We've   been   with  the    Met   ever   since. 
Which  says  a  lot  for  the  way  we  sound. 
When  you  find  Sutherland,  Stevens, 
Corelli  and  Callas  all  agreeing 
on   something,    it  must   be 
something.  That's  why 
you'll   find   Knabe 
pianos  at  lead- 
ing institutions 
such  as  Brig- 
ham  Young  and 
Utah  Universities. 
We   go  to   great 
lengths    to    get 
artists  to  love  us.  We 
make  our  tone   con- 
sistent  and  beautiful 
Our  action  swift  and  respon- 
sive. On  stage,  that's  vital.  Off 
stage,  our  fine  furniture  look  is  just  as 
important.  You'll  get  a  lot  of  pleasure  out 
of  having  a  good  looking  star  of  the  Met 
in  your  living  room.  Not  to  mention  the 
good  sound  pleasure  that  comes  from  it. 


Wra,  Knabe  &  Co.,  Inc. 

East  Rochester,  New  York 

A  Division  of  Aeolian  Corporation. 


SOMETHING  YOU  SHOULD 


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FOOD  STORAGE 
BOOKLET 

/        •  WHAT  SHOULD  WE  STORE  ? 

•  STORING  TO  PREVENT  SPOILAGE 

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WALTER  D.  BATCHELOR 

61    BEACON    AVENUE  LAYTON,    UTAH    84041 

"30  YEARS  EXPERIENCE  IN  FOOD  STORAGE" 


56 


today's  knowledge  and  technology 
are  taking  us. 

Bloxham — For  example,  we  are 
going  to  have  actual  documents 
placed  on  transparencies,  and  we 
will  show  how  to  use  passenger 
lists  of  arrivals,  Indian  census 
records,  federal  census  records,  mil- 
itary documents.  The  latest 
research  by  professional  organiza- 
tions throughout  the  world  will  be 
explained.  From  the  standpoint  of 
one  interested  in  genealogy,  the 
kind  of  training  that  will  be  of- 
fered by  the  Genealogical  Society 
and  BYU's  leading  genealogical  ex- 
perts and  by  our  General  Authori- 
ties who  will  speak  on  priesthood 
genealogy  will  be  all  encompass- 
ing. This  really  is  a  remarkable 
opportunity. 

Wright — All  interested  persons 
should  correspond  with  Special 
Courses  and  Conferences  at  Brig- 
ham  Young  University,  Provo, 
Utah,  at  their  earliest  convenience. 
Registration  fee  is  $10  for  the 
week.  There  will  be  three  instruc- 
tional periods  of  one  and  one-half 
hours  each,  held  between  8:30  a.m. 
and  4:30  p.m.  Housing  may  be  ob- 
tained on  or  off  campus.  On 
campus,  board  and  room  will  cost 


Improvement  Era 


between  $3  and  $5  per  day  for  a 
man  and  wife. 

Jeppsen — For  those  who  may  be 
interested,  numerous  families  who 
attended  last  year  did  so  as  part 
of  their  family  vacation,  because 
on  our  campus  we  feature  swim- 
ming, bowling,  hobby  shops,  danc- 
ing, golf,  tennis,  movies,  dramas, 
and  student  musicals.  Nearby  are 
the  canyons  and  Utah  Lake  for  hik- 
ing, fishing,  camping,  and  boating. 
It  is  a  marvelous  way  to  introduce 
one's  family  to  BYU,  and  Salt  Lake 
City  and  Church  headquarters  are 
less  than  an  hour  away.  In  terms  of 
cost,  last  year  most  couples  spent 
between  $35  and  $50  total  for  board 
and  room  while  at  the  seminar. 
Housing  is  available  with  cooking 
facilities  both  for  couples  and  for 
those  wishing  to  bring  their 
children. 

Elder  Burton — In  closing,  I  would 
like  to  note  that  some  amazing  and 
inspiring  things  have  been  done 
or  set  in  motion  the  past  few  years, 
but  the  future  looks  even  brighter. 
We  live  in  a  time  that  provides  us 
with  countless  opportunities  to  per- 
form the  temple  ordinances  for 
our  beloved  and  worthy  progeni- 
tors.   It  is  a  thrilling  age!  O 


Elder  Theodore  M.  Burton  reviews 
progress  of  the  Genealogical  Society, 
and  also  discusses  upcoming  Priest- 
hood-Genealogy Seminar  to  be  held  in 
August  at  Brig  ham  Young  University. 


February  1968 


LEADERSHIP 


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[7J   Survival  Kit  and  Camping 
INFORMATION 

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Aids    in    treatment    of   simple   sore 
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HALL'S  REMEDY 

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JEWELRY  CO. 

42  WEST  2ND.  SOUTH     •   DA  2-1039 
SALT  LAKE  CITY  1,  UTAH 

INTERMOUNTAIN'S   LARGEST   DIAMOND   DEALER 


57 


•  "Life  is  not  kicking  me  about— 
it  is  shoving  me  around,  then  sit- 
ting on  me  so  hard  that  I  feel 
smothered."  These  words  came 
over  the  phone  to  a  friendly  ear. 
The  caller  went  on  to  say  that  she 
had  six  children  all  under  seven 
years  of  age,  that  she  lived  a  life 
of  confusion  and  frustration,  and 
that  she  was  ready  to  "start  climb- 
ing the  walls."  The  house  was 
never  in  order,  the  children  never 
quiet,  and  there  was  never  time  in 
the  day  to  do  all  there  was  to  be 
done.  Then  in  a  longing  voice,  she 
added,  "I'm  not  a  person  in  my  own 
right  any  more.  I've  been  smashed 
into  a  million  pieces,  and  I  haven't 
even  time  to  stop  and  pick  up  the 
fragments.  I've  come  to  the  end  of 
me. 

There  was  an  unuttered  cry  for 
help  in  those  words.  Such  thoughts 
are  duplicated  in  hundreds  of 
homes  by  hundreds  of  young 
mothers.  Is  there  an  easy  remedy? 
Life  for  a  young  mother  with  a 
number  of  children  is  not  simple, 
but  it  can  be  exciting.  It  can  be  a 
happy  time,  and  it  can  be  a  most 
rewarding  adventure.  One  must 
always  remember,  when  day -by- 
day  struggling  seems  insurmount- 
able, to  repeat  the  thought,  "This 
too  will  pass."    All  too   soon  the 


years  go  by,  and  the  sons  are  six 
feet  tall  and  wage-earning  fathers; 
and  the  daughters,  now  mothers 
themselves,  are  in  their  cycle  of 
rearing  little  children.  Life  is  a 
circle  one  travels,  and  the  wheel 
never  stops.  It  is  difficult  to  choose 
the  years  that  are  the  most  enjoy- 
able, but  when  a  vote  is  taken  in 
later  life,  the  child-rearing  years 
usually  win  the  count. 

There  are  many  ways  to  turn  the 
drudgery  of  these  years  into  joy. 
One  way  is  to  remember  that  each 
little  one  is  a  child  of  God,  an  in- 
dividual loaned  to  you  to  be  taught 
and  loved  and  enjoyed.  When  this 
baby  is  put  into  your  arms,  you  can 
almost  hear  the  words:  "This  child 
is  yours  to  mold  and  guide;  there 
is  nothing  more  important  in  this 
life."  You  now  have  the  privilege 
of  helping  to  build  a  worthwhile 
human  being.  No  work  in  the  world 
pays  like  "mother  work." 

If  you  find  yourself  frustrated, 
put  first  things  first.  Try  not  to  be 
a  perfectionist  as  a  housekeeper. 
Realize  that  the  children  come  be- 
fore the  household  duties  and  be- 
fore any  interests  outside  the  home. 
Learn  to  organize  your  life  hap- 
pily. Don't  jam  any  one  day  too 
full;  leave  time  for  the  unexpected. 
Any  schedule  should  have  plenty  of 


leeway.  In  this  budgeting  of  time, 
consider  yourself.  Plan  for  a  few 
minutes  in  each  day  to  go  into  your 
own  room  and  close  the  door. 
Occasionally  have  a  babysitter 
come  in  while  you  put  on  fresh  lip- 
stick and  walk  into  the  outside 
World  for  a  few  hours. 

There  is  a  home  on  almost  every 
block  where  children  like  to  gather. 
It  is  a  place  where  the  mother 
loves  children.  She  takes  time  for 
each  question;  she  listens  as  each 
little  voice  speaks.  She  believes  that 
woman  is  that  she  might  have  joy. 
There  is  a  feeling  of  optimism  in 
her  every  motion,  glance,  and  word. 
Though  others  may  moan  when 
they  see  one  cloud  in  the  sky,  she 
is  thankful  for  a  patch  of  blue. 
Perhaps  this  house  is  not  too  clean, 
but  the  children  feel  only  the  love. 
However,  if  the  home  is  more  than 
cluttered,  that  is  not  good.  There 
can  be  a  balance. 

A  husband  and  children  deserve 
a  basically  clean  home.  Frustra- 
tion comes  to  some  people  because 
confusion  and  clutter  upset  some- 
thing within  them.  They  get 
bogged  down  in  the  "now."  In  such 
cases  the  housekeeping  should  be 
scheduled.  Perhaps  an  hour  first 
thing  in  the  morning  might  be 
taken  to  tidy  up  the  whole  house; 


58 


Improvement  Era 


then  one  or  two  hours  each  day 
could  be  spent  to  clean  one  room 
thoroughly.  By  the  end  of  the  week, 
the  house  will  be  cleaned,  and  each 
day  will  find  a  neat  home  and  a 
serene  mother.  Include  in  this 
schedule  a  plan  for  mother  and  the 
children  to  spend  a  few  minutes 
picking  up  the  clutter  again  just 
before  father  comes  home  in  the 
evening. 

Children  can  be  happy  doing 
housework  if  mother  is  cheerful 
and  makes  a  game  of  it.  A  two- 
year-old  is  able  to  pick  up  toys  if 
this  is  consistently  expected  of  him. 
A  five-year-old  can  dust,  empty 
wastepaper  baskets,  and  do  other 
chores.  An  eight-  or  ten-year-old 
child  is  capable  of  helping  the 
younger  children  bathe  and  get  to 
bed  in  the  evening.  Ironing,  dish- 
washing, bedmaking,  vacuuming, 
and  many  other  household  tasks 
can  be  done  by  children  with 
mother  supervising  and  making  it 
fun.  Try  to  sing  or  whistle  while 
you  work;  the  job  gets  done  more 
quickly  that  way. 

A  mother  should  be  consistent  in 
her  attitude  toward  the  children 
helping  in  the  home.  Each  day, 
with  few  exceptions,  every  little 
person  should  do  his  chores.  A 
mother  needs  a  steady,  not  a  heavy, 
hand  in  guiding  the  children  with 
their  work.  Rewards  are  not  taboo 
but  blackmail  is.  If  the  children 
do  a  certain  assignment  well,  there 
could  be  a  treat,  but  try  not  to 
threaten  the  boy  or  girl  if  a  task 
is  not  done  satisfactorily.  Without 
cross  words,  have  the  child  do  the 
work  over  again.  A  mother's  con- 
sistency gives  strength  to  her 
words. 

Too  many  interests  outside  the 
home  can  make  a  woman  confused 
and  unhappy.  It  is  not  wise  to 
accept  everything  that  is  asked  of 
one.  Good  judgment  should  be 
used.  A  young  mother  needs  out- 
side interests  but  she  does  not  need 
to  carry  added  pressures  to  the  det- 


riment of  her  own  family.  Many  a 
young  mother,  in  welcoming  a  di- 
version, will  accept  a  number  of 
responsibilities  in  civic,  church,  and 
social  organizations,  which  may  not 
leave  her  enough  time  for  her  fam- 
ily's demands.  Only  frustration 
can  follow.  Every  woman  should 
use  wisdom.  A  husband  and  chil- 
dren should  always  come  first  in 
any  plans. 

A  person  may  feel  guilty  because 
she  has  spoken  crossly,  or  because 
the  house  is  not  in  perfect  order, 
or  because  she  took  a  nap,  or  be- 
cause she  shows  a  lack  of  consis- 
tency. But  a  mother  must  not  live 
a  life  of  guilt.  Just  do  the  best  at 
the  moment,  then  stand  relaxed. 
Don't  waste  time  and  energy  on 
past  shortcomings;  try  harder  and 
then  relax  more. 

Confusion  at  breakfast  and  at 
the  dinner  hour  is  frustrating  to 
everyone.  Planning  ahead  can 
rectify  this.  Work  out  menus  and 
shop  for  the  needs  of  seven  break- 
fasts at  one  time;  then  do  some- 
thing before  going  to  bed  at  night 
to  lighten  the  preparation  of 
breakfast  the  next  morning.  This 
planning  will  help  insure  the 
needed  foods  for  the  morning 
meal.  There  is  nothing  more  frus- 
trating than  trying  to  fix  breakfast 
without  eggs  or  milk.  It  is  also 
foolish  for  a  tired  mother  to  plan 
a  dinner  for  her  family  with  a  great 
deal  of  last-minute  preparation.  A 
meal  can  be  delicious  and  nourish- 
ing and  yet  simple.  Plan  dinners 
that  can  be  prepared  earlier  in  the 
day  with  a  minimum  of  last-minute 
doing.  Oven  meals  fit  into  this 
category.  Try  some  of  the  follow- 
ing suggestions;  then  at  dinner 
time  sit  contentedly  and  relaxed 
and  enjoy  your  family. 

EASY  DOES  IT 

The  most  relaxing  of  all  meals 
to  prepare  is  the  oven  dinner.  Most 
of  the  preparation  can  be  done 
early  in  the  day  and  the  prepared 


dish  can  be  chilled  in  the  refriger- 
ator. Then,  with  the  help  of  the 
oven,  only  30  to  60  minutes  is 
needed  to  present  the  family  with 
a  hot,  nourishing,  delicious  meal. 
Ovens  through  the  ages  have  pro- 
duced fragrant  meats  and  breads, 
but  nothing  can  compare  to  a 
modern  oven.  It  can  do  all  but  the 
initial  preparation  of  the  food.  A 
finger  touches  a  button,  and  a  cold 
oven  turns  itself  on  at  a  designated 
time  to  a  set  temperature.  Human 
beings  can  be  miles  away  but  still 
dinner  can  start  to  cook  and  be 
ready  when  the  family  assembles 
around  the  dinner  table.  It's  magic! 
This  miracle  can  help  a  busy 
mother  to  be  cheerful,  calm,  and 
serene  throughout  the  dinner  hour. 

Cheese  and  Meat  Casserole 

(8  servings) 

y2   pound  noodles 
iy2   pounds  lean  ground  beef 

2  small  cans  tomato  sauce 
V2   cup  chili  sauce 

1   8-ounce  carton  small  curd  cottage 
cheese 

1  8-ounce  package  cream  cheese 
Vi   cup  evaporated  milk 

1  teaspoon  lemon  juice 
Y3   cup  minced  green  onions 

Early  in  the  day,  cook  the  noodles  as 
directed  on  the  package;  drain.  Saute 
the  ground  beef  and  stir  in  the  tomato 
sauce  and  the  chili  sauce.  Remove  from 
heat.  Combine  cottage  cheese,  cream 
cheese,  evaporated  milk,  lemon  juice, 
onions.  In  a  2-quart  casserole  spread 
half  the  noodles;  cover  with  the  cheese 
mixture;  then  add  the  rest  of  the 
noodles.  Pour  the  tomato-meat  sauce 
over  all.  Bake  in  a  350°  F.  oven  until 
heated  through. 

Lima  Bean  Casserole 

(6  to  8  servings) 

2  packages  frozen  lima  beans 

1   can  condensed  mushroom  soup 

Milk 

Cook  the  lima  beans  in  unsalted  water 
until  just  tender;  drain.  Stir  in  the  soup. 
Thin  slightly  with  milk  if  desired.  Put 
into  a  casserole.  Garnish  with  buttered 
cracker  crumbs  and  bake  in  a  350°  F. 
oven   until   bubbly  and   brown   on   top. 

Hungry  Boy  Casserole 

(8  servings) 

1  package  (8  ounces)  shell  macaroni 

2  pounds  ground  beef 
1   cup  chopped  onion 

1   cup  chopped  green  pepper 
iy2   teaspoons  salt 
Vs  teaspoon   pepper  -► 


February  1968 


59 


1  can  (8  ounces)  whole  kernel  corn, 
drained 

2  cans  condensed  tomato  soup 
y2   cup  chopped  ripe  olives 

Cook  the  macaroni  according  to  direc- 
tions on  package  and  drain.  Brown  the 
meat;  add  the  onion  and  green  pepper, 
cover  the  skillet,  and  simmer  until  they 
are  softened.  Combine  this  mixture 
with  the  salt,  pepper,  macaroni,  corn, 
tomato  soup,  and  ripe  olives.  Place  in  a 
2V2-qijart  casserole,  top  with  buttered 
cornflakes,  and  bake  in  a  350°  F.  oven 
for  30  minutes. 

Veal  Loaf 

(6  to  8  servings) 


IV, 

V2 

Vz 
Vz 

2 
2 
1 
1 
Va 


pounds  ground  veal 
pound  ground  pork 
cup  coarse  bread  crumbs 
cup  evaporated  milk 
eggs,  slightly  beaten 
tablespoons  lemon  juice 
teaspoon  salt 
teaspoon  celery  salt 
teaspoon  pepper 
slices  bacon 


Combine  all  ingredients  except  bacon, 
and  pack  into  a  greased  9x5  loaf  pan. 
Dice  the  bacon  and  place  on  top  of  loaf. 
Store  in  refrigerator.  Bake  at  350°  F. 
for  about  iy2  hours. 

Beef  Italian 

(6  servings) 

iy2   pounds  round  steak,  boneless 
1   egg,  beaten 

y3   cup  Parmesan  cheese 

y3   cup  fine  bread  crumbs 
Cooking  oil 
Dash  of  pepper 
Dash  of  oregano 

Vi  cup  chopped  onion 
\y2   teaspoons  sugar 

1  6-ounce  can  tomato  paste 

2  cups  hot  water 

V2   pound  cheese,  sliced 

Pound  the  steak  very  thin;  cut  into  6 
servings.  Dip  the  meat  into  the  beaten 
egg,  then  roll  in  mixture  of  Parmesan 
cheese  and  crumbs.  Brown  steak,  sea- 
soned with  pepper  and  oregano,  in  oil 
over  medium  heat.  Place  in  shallow 
pan.  Cook  onion  in  the  oil  until  soft  but 
not  brown;  stir  in  the  other  ingredients 
except  the  cheese.  Gradually  add  the 
hot  water,  stirring.  Pour  most  of  the 
sauce  over  the  meat;  top  with  cheese 
slices  and  remaining  sauce.  Bake  at 
350°  F.  for  1  hour. 

Oven  Stew 

(Serves  6  to  8) 
2  pounds  beef,  cut  into  1-inch  cubes 
2  onions,  sliced 
4  carrots,  sliced  y^-'mch  thick 
1  turnip,  sliced 


1  cup  thinly  sliced  cabbage 

1   cup  diced  celery 

3  sprigs  parsley 
Salt  to  taste 
y2  teaspoon  peppercorns 

1  bay  leaf 

5  cloves 

2  cups  water 

1   large  can  tomatoes 

3  tablespoons  flour 

1  package  frozen  peas 

Toss  the  beef  in  seasoned  flour  and 
brown  in  2  tablespoons  hot  oil.  Add  all 
the  other  ingredients  with  the  exception 
of  the  flour  and  peas.  Place  in  a  baking 
dish.  Cover,  and  bake  at  250°  F.  for  3 
hours  or  until  the  meat  and  vegetables 
are  tender.  Ten  minutes  before  serving, 
stir  in  the  flour  and  peas. 

Country  Ham  Casserole 

(Serves  6-8) 

6  hard-cooked  eggs,  sliced 

2  cups  diced  cooked  ham 

5  tablespoons  melted  butter 

7  tablespoons  flour 

4  cups  milk 

3  tablespoons  chopped  onion 

3  tablespoons  chopped  green  pepper 
3  tablespoons  chopped  celery 

Salt  and  pepper  to  taste 

y2  teaspoon  mustard 

Arrange  the  eggs  and  ham  in  layers  in 
a  greased  casserole.  In  a  skillet  or 
saucepan  blend  the  flour  in  the  butter 
and  gradually  stir  in  the  milk.  Cook, 
stirring  until  thickened.  Add  the  other 
ingredients  and  pour  over  the  ham  and 
eggs.  Sprinkle  with  bread  crumbs  mixed 
with  grated  cheese.  Chill  until  about  45 
minutes  before  serving.  Heat  in  350° 
F.  oven  until  browned  and  bubbly. 

Family  Tuna  Casserole 

(Serves  6) 

3  cups  cooked  rice 

1  can  cream  of  mushroom  soup 

%  cup  evaporated  milk 

V2  teaspoon  thyme 

1  tablespoon  grated  onion 

1  teaspoon  Worcestershire  sauce 

1  cup  chopped  celery 

1  small  can  pimiento,  chopped 

2  cans  tuna 

1  cup  grated  cheese 

Combine  all  the  ingredients.  Pour  into 
a  buttered  casserole.  Sprinkle  with 
crushed  potato  chips.  Chill  until  45 
minutes  before  serving.  Bake  in  a  375° 
F.  oven. 

Chicken  and  Rice  Casserole 
(Serves  6) 

1  cup  uncooked  rice 

2  tablespoons  butter 

1  cup  diced  celery 

V£  cup  diced  green  pepper 
2y2  cups  chicken  broth 
Salt  and  pepper  to  taste 

2  cups  cooked  chicken 

2  tablespoons  cornstarch 
1  teaspoon  lemon  juice 
y2   package  frozen  peas 
1  cup  crushed  potato  chips 


Fry  the  rice  in  the  butter  until  it  is 
golden  brown.  Add  the  celery,  green 
pepper,  y2  cup  chicken  broth,  and  sea- 
son to  taste.  Cook  until  all  moisture  is 
gone.  Thicken  2  cups  chicken  broth 
with  cornstarch.  Add  the  diced  chicken 
and  lemon  juice,  and  season  to  taste. 
Put  alternate  layers  of  rice,  chicken, 
and  peas  in  a  buttered  casserole.  End 
with  the  chicken  mixture.  Top  with 
crushed  potato  chips.  Chill  until  just 
before  dinner.  Bake  in  a  350°  F.  oven 
for  30  to  45  minutes. 

Home,  Sweet  Home 

Snacks  have  the  ability  to 
do  many  things.  They  can: 

Help  pass  the  time  away. 

Enliven  a  twosome. 

Encourage  a  tot. 

Expand  a  waist. 

Ruin  a  figure. 

Stimulate  an  appetite. 

Create  a  mood. 

Be  a  reward. 

Smother  a  desire. 

Kill  a  resolution. 

Add  joy  to  a  moment. 

Warm  a  heart. 

Entertain  a  group. 

Make  an  event  special. 

An  inexpensive,  low-calorie  snack  for 
a  family  evening  is  always  welcome. 
Next  week  try  serving  these  corn  crisps 
and  hot  tomato  juice. 

Grace's  Corn  Crisps 

1  cup  water 

2  tablespoons  butter 

1  cup  yellow  cornmeal 
y2  teaspoon  salt 
onion  salt 
Parmesan  cheese 

Bring  the  water  and  butter  to  a  boil; 
add  cornmeal  and  salt  all  at  once,  stir- 
ring rapidly.  Remove  from  heat  and 
stir  until  dough  forms  a  ball.  Divide  it 
into  2  parts.  Place  each  ball  on  a  well- 
buttered  cookie  sheet  and  smooth  out 
with  fingers  until  the  pan  is  covered. 
The  dough  will  be  very  thin,  but  keep 
patting  it  until  the  sheet  is  covered. 
Bake  in  a  375°  F.  oven  until  the  edges 
curl  and  the  corn  crisp  is  a  golden 
brown.  Sprinkle  with  onion  salt  and 
Parmesan  cheese.  When  cool,  remove 
the  corn  crisps  from  the  pans  in  large 
pieces.  Gently  place  in  an  attractive 
dish  or  basket.  Nibble  and  enjoy.  This 
snack  is  good  served  as  an  accom- 
paniment to  soup,  fruit  cocktail,  fish 
cocktail,  or  punch.  O 


60 


Improvement  Era 


MP*0*? %  ...>; 


Yeast  bakers:  there's  no 
need  to  dissolve  the  yeast 
when  you  bake  this  new  quick 
easy  Rapid  mix  way  with  new 
improved  Fleischmann's  Yeast. 
No  warming  the  bowl. 
No  worry  about  water  temperature. 
No  risk  of  killing  the  yeast. 
And  the  results  are  better  than 
ever  before.  See  easy  details  on 
every  package  of  new  improved 
Fleischmann's  Yeast.  And  get 
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February  1968 


61 


Dr.   Charles  H.  Townes'  work 

on  the  laser  won   him  the   1964   Nobel  Prize. 

He   is  presently  provost  and   professor 

of   physics  at   Massachusetts 

Institute  of  Technology. 


The 
Convergence  of 

Science  and 
Religion 

By  Charles  H.  Townes 


The  ever-increasing  success  of 
science  has  posed  many  chal- 
lenges and  conflicts  for  religion — 
conflicts  that  are  resolved  in  individual 
lives  in  a  variety  of  ways.  Some  accept 
both  religion  and  science  as  dealing 
with  quite  different  methods,  and  thus 
separate  them  so  widely  in  their  think- 
ing that  no  direct  confrontation  is  pos- 
sible. Some  repair  rather  completely 
to  the  camp  of  science  or  of  religion 
and  regard  the  other  as  of  little  impor- 
tance, if  not  downright  harmful. 

To  me  science  and  religion  are  both 
universal  and  basically  very  similar.  In 
fact,  to  make  the  argument  clear,  I 
should  like  to  adopt  the  rather  extreme 
point  of  view  that  their  differences  are 
largely  superficial,  and  that  the  two 
become  almost  indistinguishable  if  we 
look  at  the  real  nature  of  each.  It  is 
perhaps  science  whose  real  nature  is 
the  less  obvious,  because  of  its  blind- 
ing superficial  successes.  To  explain 
this,  and  to  give  perspective  to  the  non- 
scientists,  we  must  consider  a  bit  of 
the  history  and  development  of  science. 
The  march  of  science  during  the  19th 
century  produced  enormous  confidence 
in  its  success  and  generality.  One 
field  after  another  fell  before  the  ob- 
jective inquiry,  experimental  approach, 
and  logic  of  science.  Scientific  laws 
appeared  to  take  on  an  absolute  quality, 
and   it  was  very  easy  to  be  convinced 


From  Think,  March-April  1966.    Used  with  permission. 


that  science  in  time  would  explain 
everything. 

This  was  the  time  when  Laplace 
could  believe  that  if  he  knew  the  posi- 
tion and  velocity  of  every  particle  in 
the  universe  and  could  calculate  suffi- 
ciently well,  he  would  then  know  the 
entire  future.  Laplace  was  simply 
expressing  the  evident  experience  of 
the  time,  that  the  success  and  precision 
of  scientific  laws  had  changed  deter- 
minism from  a  speculative  argument 
to  one  that  seemed  inescapable. 

This  was  the  time  when  the  devout 
Pasteur,  asked  how  he  as  a  scientist 
could  be  religious,  simply  replied  that 
his  laboratory  was  one  realm,  and  that 
his  home  and  religion  were  a  com- 
pletely different  one. 

There  are  today  many  vestiges  of  this 
19th  century  scientific  absolutism  in 
our  thinking  and  attitudes.  It  has  given 
Communism,  based  on  Marx's  19th 
century  background,  some  of  its  sense 
of  the  inexorable  course  of  history  and 
of  "scientific"  planning  of  society. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  19th  century, 
many  physical  scientists  viewed  their 
work  as  almost  complete  and  needing 
only  some  extension  and  more  detailed 
refinement.  But  soon  after,  deep 
problems  began  to  appear.  The  world 
seems  relatively  unaware  of  how  deep 
these  problems  really  were  and  of  the 
extent  to  which  some  of  the  most 
fundamental      scientific      ideas      have 


been  overturned  by  them.  Perhaps 
this  unawareness  is  because  science 
has  been  vigorous  in  changing  itself 
and  continuing  to  press  and  has  also 
diverted  attention  by  ever  more  suc- 
cesses in  solving  the  practical  problems 
of  life. 

Many  of  the  philosophical  and  con- 
ceptional  bases  of  science  have,  in 
fact,  been  disturbed  and  revolution- 
ized. The  poignancy  of  these  changes 
can  be  grasped  only  through  sampling 
them.  For  example,  the  question 
whether  light  consists  of  small  particles 
shot  out  by  light  sources  or  by  wave 
disturbances  originated  by  them  had 
been  debated  for  some  time  by  the 
great  figures  of  science.  The  question 
was  finally  settled  in  the  early  19th 
century  by  brilliant  experiments  that 
could  be  thoroughly  interpreted  by 
theory.  The  experiments  told  scien- 
tists of  the  time  that  light  was  un- 
equivocally a  wave  and  not  particles. 
But  about  1900,  other  experiments 
turned  up  that  showed  just  as  un- 
equivocally that  light  is  a  stream  of 
particles  rather  than  waves.  Thus 
physicists  were  presented  with  a  deeply 
disturbing  paradox.  Its  solution  took 
several  decades  and  was  only  accom- 
plished in  the  mid-1920's  by  the  devel- 
opment of  a  new  set  of  ideas  known 
as  quantum  mechanics. 

The  trouble  was  that  scientists  were 
thinking    in    terms    of    their    common 


62 


Improvement  Era 


Albert  Einstein  and  Job.  Faith  is  necessary  to  men  of  both  science  and  religion,  says  Dr. 
Townes.  A  firm  belief  in  an  orderly  universe,  somewhat  like  Job's  durable  conviction, 
sustained  Einstein.     "God  is  very  subtle,"  he  once  remarked,    "but  he  is  not  malicious." 


everyday  experience,  and  that  experi- 
ence encompassed  the  behavior  of 
large  objects  but  not  yet  many  atomic 
phenomena.  Examination  of  light  or 
atoms  in  detail  brings  us  into  a  new 
realm  of  very  small  quantities  with 
which  we  have  had  no  previous  ex- 
perience, and  where  our  intuitions 
could  well  be  untrustworthy.  And  now 
in  retrospect,  it  is  not  at  all  surprising 
that  the  study  of  matter  on  the  atomic 
scale  has  taught  us  new  things,  and 
that  some  are  inconsistent  with  ideas 
that  previously  had  seemed  so  clear. 

Physicists  today  believe  that  light  is 
neither  precisely  a  wave  nor  a  particle, 
but  both,  and  we  were  mistaken  in  even 
asking  the  question,  "Is  light  a  particle 
or  is  it  a  wave?"  It  can  display  both 
properties.  So  can  all  matter,  includ- 
ing baseballs  and  locomotives.  We 
don't  ordinarily  observe  this  duality  in 
large  objects,  because  they  do  not 
show  wave  properties  prominently.  But 
in  principle  we  believe  they  are  there. 

We  have  come  to  believe  other 
strange  phenomena  as  well.     Suppose 


an  electron  is  put  in  a  long  box  where 
it  may  travel  back  and  forth.  Physical 
theory  now  tells  us  that,  under  certain 
conditions,  the  electron  will  sometimes 
be  found  toward  one  end  of  the  box 
and  sometimes  toward  the  other,  but 
never  in  the  middle.  This  statement 
clashes  absurdly  with  ideas  of  an  elec- 
tron moving  back  and  forth,  and  yet 
most  physicists  today  are  quite  con- 
vinced of  its  validity  and  can  demon- 
strate its  essential  truth  in  the 
laboratory. 

yi  nother  strange  aspect  of  the  new 
/  \  quantum  mechanics  is  called 
*  *  the  uncertainty  principle. 
This  principle  shows  that  if  we  try  to 
say  exactly  where  a  particle  (or  object) 
is,  we  cannot  at  the  same  time  say 
exactly  how  fast  it  is  going  and  in  what 
direction;  or,  if  we  determine  its  ve- 
locity, we  can  never  say  exactly  what 
its  position  is.  According  to  this  theory, 
Laplace  was  wrong  from  the  beginning. 
If  he  were  alive  today,  he  would  prob- 
ably understand  along  with  other 
contemporary     physicists     that     it     is 


fundamentally  impossible  to  obtain  the 
information  necessary  for  his  precise 
predictions,  even  if  he  were  dealing 
with  only  one  single  particle,  rather 
than  with  the  entire  universe. 

The  modern  laws  of  science  seem, 
then,  to  have  turned  our  thinking  away 
from  complete  determinism  and  to- 
ward a  world  where  chance  plays  a 
major  role.  It  is  chance  on  an  atomic 
scale,  but  there  are  situations  and 
times  when  the  random  change  in  posi- 
tion of  one  atom  or  one  electron  can 
materially  affect  the  large-scale  affairs 
of  life  and,  in  fact,  our  entire  society. 
A  striking  example  involves  Queen 
Victoria,  who,  through  one  such  event 
on  an  atomic  scale,  became  a  mutant 
and  passed  on  to  certain  male  de- 
scendants in  Europe's  royal  families 
the  trait  of  hemophilia.  Thus  one  un- 
predictable event  on  an  atomic  scale 
had  its  effect  on  both  the  Spanish 
royal  family  and,  through  an  afflicted 
czarevitch,  on  the  stability  of  the 
Russian  throne. 

This  new  view  of  a  world  that  is  not 


February  1968 


63 


some  of  the  most 


fundamental  scientific 


ideas  have 


been  overturned  . . ." 


predictable  from  physical  laws  was  not 
at  all  easy  for  physicists  of  the  older 
tradition  to  accept.  Even  Einstein,  one 
of  the  architects  of  quantum  mechan- 
ics, never  completely  accepted  the 
indeterminism  of  chance  that  it  implies. 
"Herr  Gott  wurfelt  nicht" — the  Lord 
God  doesn't  throw  dice!  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  also  that  Russian  Com- 
munism, with  its  roots  in  19th  century 
determinism,  for  a  long  time  took  a 
strong  doctrinaire  position  against  the 
new  physics  of  quantum  mechanics. 

When  scientists  pressed  on  to  ex- 
amine still  other  realms  outside  our 
common  experience,  further  surprises 
were  found.  For  objects  of  much 
higher  velocities  than  we  ordinarily 
experience,  relativity  shows  that  very 
strange  things  happen.  First,  objects 
can  never  go  faster  than  a  certain 
speed,  regardless  of  how  hard  they 
are  pushed.  Their  absolute  maximum 
speed  is  that  of  light — 186,000  miles 
per  second.  Further,  when  objects  are 
going  fast,  they  become  shorter  and 
more  massive — they  change  shape  and 
also  weigh  more.  Even  time  moves  at 
a  different  rate;  if  we  send  a  clock 
off  at  a  high  velocity,  it  runs  slower. 

This  peculiar  behavior  of  time  is  the 
origin  of  the  famous  cat-kitten  con- 
ceptual experiment.  Take  a  litter  of  six 
kittens  and  divide  them  into  two 
groups.  Keep  three  of  them  on  earth; 
send  the  other  three  off  in  a  rocket 
at  a  speed  nearly  as  fast  as  light,  and 


after  one  year  bring  them  back.  The 
earth  kittens  will  obviously  have  be- 
come cats,  but  the  ones  sent  into 
space  will  have  remained  kittens.  This 
theory  has  not  been  tested  with  kittens, 
but  it  has  been  checked  experimentally 
with  the  aging  of  inanimate  objects 
and  seems  to  be  quite  correct.  Today 
the  vast  majority  of  scientists  believe 
it  true. 

Scientists  have  now  become  a  good 
deal  more  cautious  and  modest  about 
extending  scientific  ideas  into  realms 
where  they  have  not  yet  been  thor- 
oughly tested.  Of  course,  an  important 
part  of  the  game  of  science  is,  in  fact, 
the  development  of  general  laws  that 
can  be  extended  into  new  realms.  These 
laws  are  often  remarkably  successful 
in  telling  us  new  things  or  in  predict- 
ing things  that  we  have  not  yet  directly 
observed.  And  yet  we  must  always  be 
aware  that  such  extensions  may  be 
wrong,  and  wrong  in  very  fundamental 
ways.  In  spite  of  all  the  changes  in 
our  views,  it  is  reassuring  to  note  that 
the  laws  of  19th  century  science  were 
not  so  far  wrong  in  the  realm  in  which 
they  were  initially  applied — that  of 
ordinary  velocities  and  of  objects 
larger  than  the  point  of  a  pin.  In  this 
realm  they  were  essentially  right,  and 
we  still  teach  the  laws  of  Newton  or  of 
Maxwell,  because  in  their  own  im- 
portant sphere  they  are  valid  and 
useful. 

We  know  today  that  the  most 
sophisticated  present  scientific  the- 
ories, including  modern  quantum 
mechanics,  are  still  incomplete.  We 
use  them  because  in  certain  areas  they 
are  so  amazingly  right.  Yet  they  lead 
us  at  times  into  inconsistencies  that 
we  do  not  understand,  and  where  we 
must  recognize  that  we  have  missed 
some  crucial  ideas.  We  simply  admit 
and  accept  the  paradoxes  and  hope  that 
sometime  in  the  future  they  will  be 
resolved  by  a  more  complete  under- 
standing. In  fact,  by  recognizing  these 
paradoxes  clearly  and  studying  them, 
we  can  perhaps  best  understand  the 
limitations  in  our  thinking  and  correct 
them. 


With  this  background  on  the  real 
state  of  scientific  understanding,  we 
come  now  to  the  similarity  and  near 
identity  of  science  and  religion.  The 
goal  of  science  is  to  discover  the  order 
in  the  universe,  and  to  understand 
through  this  order  the  things  we  sense 
around  us — even  man  himself.  This 
order  we  express  as  scientific  principles 
or  laws,  striving  to  state  them  in  the 
simplest  and  yet  most  inclusive  ways. 
I  believe  the  goal  of  religion  is  to  un- 
derstand (and  hence  accept)  the 
purpose  and  meaning  of  our  universe 
and  how  we  fit  into  it.  Most  religions 
see  a  unifying  and  inclusive  origin  of 
meaning,  and  this  supreme  purpose- 
ful force  we  call  God. 

Understanding  the  order  in  the  uni- 
verse and  understanding  the  purpose 
in  the  universe  are  not  identical,  but 
they  are  also  not  very  far  apart.  It  is 
interesting  that  the  Japanese  word  for 
physics  is  butsuri,  which  translated 
means  simply  the  reason  for  things. 
Thus  we  readily  and  inevitably  link 
closely  together  the  nature  and  the 
purpose  of  our  universe. 

What  are  the  aspects  of  religion 
and  science  that  often  make  them 
seem  almost  diametrically  opposite? 
Many  of  them  come,  I  believe,  out  of 
differences  in  language  used  for  his- 
torical reasons,  and  many  from  quanti- 
tative differences  that  are  large  enough 
that  unconsciously  we  assume  they  are 
qualitative  ones.  Let  us  consider  some 
of  the  aspects  where  science  and  re- 
ligion may  superficially  look  very 
different. 

The  essential  role  of  faith  in  religion 
is  so  well-known  that  taking  things  on 
faith  rather  than  proving  them  is 
usually  taken  as  characteristic  of  re- 
ligion and  as  distinguishing  religion 
from  science.  But  faith  is  essential  to 
science  too,  although  we  do  not  so 
generally  recognize  the  basic  need  and 
nature  of  faith  in  science. 

Faith  is  necessary  for  the  scientist 
even  to  get  started,  and  deep  faith  is 
necessary  for  him  to  carry  out  his 
tougher  tasks.  Why?  Because  he  must 
have  confidence  that  there  is  order  in 


64 


Improvement  Era 


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66 


Most  important 


scientific  discoveries 


.are  closely  akin 


to  revelation 


the  universe  and  that  the  human  mind 
— in  fact,  his  own  mind — has  a  good 
chance  of  understanding  this  order. 
Without  this  confidence,  there  would 
be  little  point  in  intense  effort  to  try 
to  understand  a  presumably  disorderly 
or  incomprehensible  world.  Such  a 
world  would  take  us  back  to  the  days 
of  superstition,  when  man  thought 
capricious  forces  manipulated  his  uni- 
verse. In  fact,  it  is  just  this  faith  in  an 
orderly  universe,  understandable  to 
man,  that  allowed  the  basic  change 
from  an  age  of  superstition  to  an  age 
of  science  and  has  made  possible  our 
scientific  progress. 

The  necessity  of  faith  in  science  is 
reminiscent  of  the  description  of  re- 
ligious faith  attributed  to  Constantine: 
"I  believe  so  that  I  may  know."  But 
such  faith  is  now  so  deeply  rooted  in 
the  scientist  that  most  of  us  never  stop 
to  think  that  it  is  there  at  all. 

Einstein  affords  a  rather  explicit 
example  of  faith  in  order,  and  many  of 
his  contributions  come  from  intuitive 
devotion  to  a  particularly  appealing 
type  of  order.  One  of  his  famous  re- 
marks is  inscribed  in  German  in  Fine 
Hall  at  Princeton:  "God  is  very  subtle, 
but  he  is  not  malicious."  That  is,  the 
world  that  God  has  constructed  may 
be  very  intricate  and  difficult  for  us  to 
understand,  but  it  is  not  arbitrary  and 
illogical.      Einstein  spent  the   last  half 


of  his  life  looking  for  a  unity  between 
gravitational  and  electromagnetic  fields. 
Many  physicists  feel  that  he  was  on 
the  wrong  track,  and  no  one  yet  knows 
whether  he  made  any  substantial 
progress.  But  he  had  faith  in  a  great 
vision  of  unity  and  order,  and  he 
worked  intensively  at  it  for  30  years 
or  more.  Einstein  had  to  have  the  kind 
of  dogged  conviction  that  could  have 
allowed  him  to  say  with  Job,  "Though 
he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him." 

For  lesser  scientists,  on  lesser 
projects,  there  are  frequent  occasions 
when  things  just  don't  make  sense,  and 
making  order  and  understanding  out  of 
one's  work  seems  almost  hopeless. 
But  still  the  scientist  has  faith  that 
there  is  order  to  be  found,  and  that 
either  he  or  his  colleagues  will  some- 
day find  it. 

Another  common  idea  about  the 
difference  between  science  and 
religion  is  based  on  their  meth- 
ods of  discovery.  Religion's  discoveries 
often  come  by  great  revelations. 
Scientific  knowledge  comes  by  logical 
deductions,  or  by  the  accumulation  of 
data  that  are  analyzed  by  established 
methods  in  order  to  draw  generaliza- 
tions called  laws.  But  such  a  de- 
scription of  scientific  discovery  is  a 
travesty  on  the  real  thing.  Most  of  the 
important  scientific  discoveries  come 
about  very  differently  and  are  much 
more  closely  akin  to  revelation.  The 
term  itself  is  generally  not  used  for 
scientific  discovery,  since  we  are  in 
the  habit  of  reserving  revelation  for  the 
religious  realm.  In  scientific  circles 
one  speaks  of  intuition,  accidental 
discovery,  or  simply  that  someone  had 
a  wonderful  idea. 

If  we  compare  how  great  scientific 
ideas  arrive,  we  see  that  they  all  look 
remarkably  like  religious  revelation 
viewed  in  a  non-mystical  way. 

Think  of  Moses  in  the  desert,  long 
troubled  and  wondering  about  the 
problem  of  saving  the  children  of 
Israel,  when  suddenly  he  had  a  revela- 
tion by  the  burning  bush. 

Consider  some  of  the  revelations  of 
the  New  Testament. 


Improvement  Era 


Think  of  Gautama  Buddha,  who 
traveled  and  inquired  for  years  in  an 
effort  to  understand  what  was  good 
and  then  one  day  sat  down  quietly 
under  a  Bo  tree  where  his  great  ideas 
were  revealed. 

Similarly,  the  scientist,  after  hard 
work  and  much  emotional  and  intel- 
lectual commitment  to  a  troubling 
problem,  sometimes  suddenly  sees  the 
answer.  Such  ideas  much  more  often 
come  during  off-moments  than  while 
confronting  data. 

A  striking  and  well-known  example  is 
the  discovery  of  the  benzene  ring  by 
Kekule,  who,  while  musing  at  his  fire- 
side, was  led  to  the  idea  of  a  vision 
of  snakes  taking  their  tails  in  their 
mouths. 

We  cannot  yet  describe  the  hu- 
man process  that  leads  to  the  crea- 
tion of  an  important  and  substantially 
new  scientific  insight.  But  it  is  clear 
that  the  great  scientific  discoveries, 
the  real  leaps,  do  not  usually  come 
from  the  so-called  "scientific  method," 
but  rather  more  as  did  Kekule's — per- 
haps with  less  picturesque  imagery, 
but  by  revelations  that  are  just  as 
real. 

Another  aspect  of  the  difference  be- 
tween science  and  religion  is  based  on 
the  notion  that  religious  ideas  depend 
only  on  faith  and  revelation,  while 
science  succeeds  in  actually  proving  its 
points.  In  this  view,  proofs  give  to 
scientific  ideas  a  certain  kind  of  abso- 
lutism and  universalism  that  religious 
ideas  have  only  in  the  claims  of  their 
proponents.  But  the  actual  nature  of 
scientific  "proof"  is  rather  different 
from  such  simple  ideas. 

Mathematical  or  logical  proof  in- 
volves choice  of  some  set  of  postu- 
lates, which  hopefully  are  consistent 
with  one  another  and  which  apply  to  a 
situation  of  interest.  In  the  case  of 
natural  science,  they  are  presumed  to 
apply  to  the  world  around  us. 

Then,  on  the  basis  of  agreed-on  laws 
of  logic,  which  must  be  assumed,  one 
can  derive  or  "prove"  the  conse- 
quences of  these  sets  of  postulates. 

How  can  we  be  sure  the  postulates 


February  1968 


What 
does 
silence 
look 


m 


$&*&*, 


*§«&£ :.~- ■- 


ike? 


Silence  is  a  Bigolow  carpet  called 
Cordridge'!" 

It  absorbs  floor  sound  and  creates 
an  atmosphere  of  hushed  serenity. 

Cordridge  has  a  beautifully  dis- 
tinctive tree  bark  texture  in  any  of  six- 
teen colors.  Its  special  design  adapts 
handsomely  to  the  decor  of  today's 
new  Mormon  church  buildings. 

its  100%  Bigelow  Approved  con- 
tinuous filament  nylon  pile  is  dense  and 


tightly  woven  to  take  the  constant  wear 
of  feet  for  years  and  years. 

Bigelow  has  or  can  custom-create 
the  perfect  carpet  to  suit  every  type  of 
church  or  auxiliary  building. 

As  America's  most  experienced 
carpetmaker  we've  done  it  since  1825. 

Bigelow^ 


WILE 


Sheilah  Graham 

pokes    around    Hollywood's    heaven 

and  peeks  in  on  the  stars.  It's  gossip  . . . 

5we  admit  it . .  .  But  isn't  it  fun  reading? 

DESERET  NEWS 


67 


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*  MEXICO  w-k» 

*  EUROPE  i6  days  to  5  weeks' 

from  $275 
(from  New  York) 

*  TEXAS  HEMISFAIR 

*  PALMYRA  PAGEANT 

*  ALASKA  ADVENTURE 


For  all  travel  and  ticketing  arrangements 


<§T  TRAVEL  INC.   ^ 


110  East  2nd  South 
Salt  Lake  City.  Utah 


Ogden,  399-4587  St.  George,  673-3136 
Logan  245-6584  Idaho  Falls ,  522-2581 
Mesa  964-5283 


In  a  Gold  Medallion  home, 
everything's  electric  includ- 
ing the  heat. 

UTAH  POWER  &  LIGHT  CO. 

68 


are  satisfactory?  The  mathematician 
Godel  has  shown  that  in  the  most 
generally  used  mathematics,  it  is  funda- 
mentally impossible  to  know  whether 
or  not  the  set  of  postulates  chosen  are 
even  self-consistent.  Only  by  con- 
structing and  using  a  new  set  of 
master  postulates  can  we  test  the  con- 
sistency of  the  first  set.  But  these  in 
turn  may  be  logically  inconsistent 
without  the  possibility  of  our  knowing 
it.  Thus  we  never  have  a  real  base 
from  which  we  can  reason  with  surety. 
Godel  doubled  our  surprises  by  showing 
that,  in  this  same  mathematical  realm, 
there  are  always  mathematical  truths 
that  fundamentally  cannot  be  proved 
by  the  approach  of  normal  logic.  His 
important  proofs  came  only  about  three 
decades  ago,  and  have  profoundly  af- 
fected our  view  of  human  logic. 

There  is  another  way  by  which  we 
become  convinced  that  a  scientific  idea 
or  postulate  is  valid.  In  the  natural 
sciences,  we  prove  it  by  making  some 
kind  of  test  of  the  postulate  against 
experience.  We  devise  experiments  to 
test  our  working  hypotheses,  and  be- 
lieve that  those  laws  or  hypotheses  are 
correct  that  seem  to  agree  with  our 
experience.  Such  tests  can  disprove 
a  hypothesis,  or  can  give  us  useful 
confidence  in  its  applicability  and  cor- 
rectness, but  they  can  never  prove  in 
any  absolute  sense. 

Can  religious  beliefs  also  be 
viewed  as  working  hypotheses, 
to  be  tested  and  validated  by 
experience?  To  some  this  may  seem  a 
secular  and  even  an  abhorrent  view. 
In  any  case,  it  discards  absolutism  in 
religion.  But  I  see  no  reason  why 
acceptance  of  religion  on  this  basis 
should  be  objectionable.  The  validity 
of    religious    ideas    must    be    and    has 


been  tested  and  judged  through  the 
ages  by  the  experience  of  societies  and 
of  individuals.  Is  there  any  great 
need  for  them  to  be  more  absolute 
than  the  law  of  gravity?  The  latter  is  a 
working  hypothesis  whose  basis  and 
permanency  we  do  not  know.  But  we 
risk  our  lives  daily  on  our  belief  in 
it,  as  well  as  on  many  other  complex 
scientific  hypotheses. 

Science  usually  deals  with  problems 
that  are  so  much  simpler  and  situations 
that  are  so  much  more  easily  con- 
trollable than  does  religion.  The  quan- 
titative difference  in  the  directness 
with  which  we  can  test  hypotheses  in 
sciences  and  religion  generally  hides 
the  logical  similarities  that  are  there. 
A  controlled  experiment  on  religious 
ideas  is  perhaps  not  at  all  possible, 
and  we  rely  for  evidence  primarily  on 
human  history  and  personal  expe"ience. 
But  certain  aspects  of  natural  science 
and  the  extension  of  science  into  social 
sciences  have  also  required  similar  use 
of  experience  and  observation  in  testing 
hypotheses. 

Suppose  now  that  we  were  to  accept 
completely  the  proposition  that  science 
and  religion  are  essentially  similar. 
Where  does  this  leave  us,  and  where 
does  it  lead  us?  Religion  can,  I  believe, 
profit  from  the  experience  of  science, 
where  the  hard  facts  of  nature  and 
the  tangibility  of  evidence  have  beaten 
into  our  thinking  some  ideas  that  man- 
kind has  often  resisted. 

First,  we  must  recognize  the  tenta- 
tive nature  of  knowledge.  Our  present 
understanding  of  science  or  of  religion 
is  likely,  if  it  agrees  with  experience,  to 
continue  to  have  an  important  degree 
of  validity  just  as  does  Newtonian 
mechanics.  But  there  may  be  many 
deeper  things  that  we  do  not  yet  know 


Intoxication 

By  Paul 
Armstrong 


Ideas  will  intoxicate, 

If  swallowed  fast  and  taken  straight; 

Will  cause  a  kind  of  pressure  pain, 

Infused  into  an  empty  brain; 

And  some  would   claim  it  more  than  fiction 

That  frequent  use  may  cause  addiction. 


Improvement  Era 


and  that,  when  discovered,  may  modify 
our  thinking  in  very  basic  ways. 

We  must  also  expect  paradoxes,  and 
not  be  surprised  or  unduly  troubled  by 
them.  We  know  of  paradoxes  in 
physics,  such  as  that  concerning  the 
nature  of  light,  which  have  been  re- 
solved by  deeper  understanding.  We 
know  of  some  that  are  still  unresolved. 
In  the  realm  of  religion,  we  are 
troubled  by  the  suffering  around  us 
and  its  apparent  inconsistency  with  a 
God  of  love.  Such  paradoxes  con- 
fronting science  do  not  usually  destroy 
our  faith  in  science.  They  simply  re- 
mind us  of  a  limited  understanding, 
and  at  times  they  provide  a  key  to 
learning   more. 

Perhaps  in  the  realm  of  religion 
there  will  be  cases  of  the  uncertainty 
principle,  which  we  now  know  as  such 
a  characteristic  phenomenon  of  phys- 
ics. If  it  is  fundamentally  impossible 
to  determine  accurately  both  the  posi- 
tion and  velocity  of  a  particle,  it  should 
not  surprise  us  if  similar  limitations 
occur  in  other  aspects  of  our  experi- 
ence. This  opposition  in  the  precise 
determination  of  two  quantities  is  also 
referred  to  as  complementarity;  posi- 
tion and  velocity  represent  comple- 
mentary aspects  of  a  particle,  only  one 
of  which  can  be  measured  precisely  at 
any  one  time. 

Nils  Bohr  has  already  suggested  that 
perception  of  man  and  his  physical 
constitution  represents  this  kind  of 
complementarity.  That  is,  the  precise 
and  close  examination  of  the  atomic 
makeup  of  man  may  of  necessity  blur 
our  view  of  him  as  a  living  and  spiritual 
being.  In  any  case,  there  seems  to  be 
no  justification  for  the  dogmatic  posi- 
tion taken  by  some  that  the  remarkable 
phenomenon  of  individual  human  per- 
sonality can  be  expressed  completely  in 
terms  of  the  presently  known  laws  of 
behavior  and  molecules.  Justice  and 
love  may  also  represent  such  comple- 
mentarity. A  completely  loving  ap- 
proach and  the  simultaneous  meting 
out  of  exact  justice  hardly  seem 
consistent. 

These  examples  are  only  somewhat 


fuzzy  analogies  of  complementarity  as 
it  is  known  in  science,  or  they  may  in- 
deed be  valid,  though  still  poorly 
defined,  occurrences  of  the  uncertainty 
principle.  But  in  any  case,  we  should 
expect  such  occurrences  and  be  fore- 
warned by  science  that  there  will  be 
fundamental  limitations  to  our  knowing 
everything  at  once  with  precision  and 
consistency. 

Finally,  if  science  and  religion  are 
so  broadly  similar,  and  not  arbi- 
trarily limited  in  their  domain,  they 
should  at  some  time  clearly  converge. 
I  believe  this  confluence  is  inevitable, 
for  they  both  represent  man's  efforts 
to  understand  his  universe  and  must 
ultimately  be  dealing  with  the  same 
substance.  As  we  understand  more  in 
each  realm,  the  two  must  grow  to- 
gether. Perhaps  by  the  time  this 
convergence  occurs,  science  will  have 
been  through  a  number  of  revolutions 
as  striking  as  those  that  have  occurred 
in  the  last  century  and  will  have  taken 
on  a  character  not  readily  recognizable 
by  scientists  of  today.  Perhaps  our 
religious  understanding  will  also  have 
seen  progress  and  change.  But  con- 
verge they  must,  and  through  this 
should  come  new  strength  for  both. 

In  the  meantime,  with  tentative  un- 
derstanding, uncertainty,  and  change, 
how  can  we  live  gloriously  and  act 
decisively  today?  It  is  this  problem,  I 
suspect,  that  has  so  often  tempted  man 
to  insist  that  he  has  final  and  ultimate 
truth  locked  in  some  particular  phrase- 
ology or  symbolism,  even  when  the 
phraseology  may  mean  a  hundred 
different  things  to  a  hundred  different 
people.  How  well  we  are  able  to 
commit  our  lives  to  ideas  that  we 
recognize  in  principle  as  only  tentative 
represents  a  real  test  of  mind  and 
emotions. 

Galileo  espoused  the  cause  of 
Copernicus'  theory  of  the  solar  system 
at  great  personal  cost  because  of  the 
church's  opposition.  We  know  today 
that  the  question  on  which  Galileo 
took  his  stand,  -the  correctness  of 
the  idea  that  the  earth  rotates  around 
the  sun  rather  than  the  sun  around  the 


"We  must  expect 

paradoxes, 

and  not  be  surprised 

or  unduly  troubled 

by  them." 


earth,  is  largely  an  unnecessary  ques- 
tion. The  two  descriptions  are  equiva- 
lent, according  to  general  relativity, 
although  the  first  is  simpler.  And  yet 
we  honor  Galileo  for  his  pioneering 
courage  and  determination  in  deciding 
what  he  really  thought  was  right  and 
speaking  out.  This  was  important  to 
his  own  integrity  and  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  scientific  and  religious 
views  of  the  time. 

The  authority  of  religion  seemed 
more  crucial  in  Galileo's  Italy  than  it 
usually  does  today,  and  science 
seemed  more  fresh  and  simple.  We 
tend  to  think  of  ourselves  as  now  more 
sophisticated,  and  of  both  science  and 
religion  as  more  complicated,  so  that 
our  position  can  be  less  clear-cut.  Yet 
if  we  accept  the  assumption  of  either 
science  or  religion,  that  truth  exists, 
surely  each  of  us  should  undertake  the 
same  kind  of  task  as  did  Galileo,  or 
as  did  Gautama  long  before  him.  For 
ourselves  and  for  mankind,  we  must 
use  our  best  wisdom  and  instincts,  the 
evidence  of  history  and  wisdom  of  the 
ages,  and  the  experience  and  revela- 
tions of  our  friends  and  heroes  in  order 
to  get  as  close  as  possible  to  truth 
and  meaning.  Furthermore,  we  must 
be  willing  to  live  and  act  on  our 
conclusions.  O 


February  1968 


69 


•  Long  and  lonely  are  the  days,  To  those  who  search  to  find 

And   dark   and   empty   are   the  their  God. 

nights. 

The  work  we  have  is  long  and  And  there  are  those  who  heed  us 

hard  not — 

As   we   attempt   to   spread   the  Who  don't  believe  tve  have  this 

light  call — 

Of  truth  and  happiness  abroad,  Whom,  we  must  warn  of  what 


Richard   L.   Evans 

The  Spoken  Word 


The  cycle  of  our  worries 


The  cycle  of  our  moods  and  worries  is  puzzling  at  times.  The  same 
troubles  and  difficulties  that  worry  us  at  one  time  do  not  so  much 
worry  us  at  another.  The  same  problems  that  cause  sleeplessness 
at  one  time  do  not  seem  so  much  to  do  so  at  another.  The  change  is  often 
in  us,  more  than  in  external  events.  A  physical  symptom,  concern  about 
a  loved  one,  concern  about  ourselves  may  run  from  optimism  to  deep 
depression  with  about  the  same  set  of  circumstances,  except  within 
ourselves.  When  we  worry  we  are  less  efficient;  we  contribute  to  the 
cause  and  slow  down  the  cure.  Whatever  the  cause,  we  should  do  what 
we  can  do,  and  not  just  brood  and  wonder  and  hope  our  worry  will 
go  away.  If  we  are  young  and  worrying  about  the  future,  we  should 
study  and  prepare  and  make  ourselves  as  competent  as  we  can.  If  our 
worry  comes  from  a  troubled  conscience,  we  should  repent,  be  prayer- 
ful, cultivate  a  simple  faith,  and  keep  the  commandments.  Whatever 
our  worries,  we  should  not  brood  in  the  dark.  Darkness  is  dangerous. 
It  is  physically,  mentally,  emotionally  dangerous.  We  should  take  our 
worries  out  and  look  at  them  in  the  light,  separate  facts  from  fears, 
think  things  through,  and  not  imagine  the  worst  on  a  sleepless  night. 
"Life  is  thickly  sown  with  thorns,"  said  Voltaire,  "and  I  know  no  other 
remedy  than  to  pass  quickly  through  them.  The  longer  we  dwell  on  our 
misfortunes,  the  greater  is  their  power  to  harm  us."  All  men  have  down 
days,  discouraging  days,  difficulties  and  depression.  Countless  people 
have  conquered,  have  overcome,  have  picked  up  broken  pieces,  or 
have  gone  on  even  when  there  weren't  many  pieces  to  pick  up.  We 
need  faith  and  facts  and  good  plain  common  sense  to  lift  us  from  the 
down  days  and  the  darkness,  remembering  that  discouragement  and 
depression  often  come  from  the  distortion  of  darkness.  This  sentence 
from  Marcus  Aurelius  is  oversimplified,  but  since  worry  is  often  caused 
by  doing  nothing  about  something  we  should  be  doing,  for  many  situa- 
tions it  has  within  it  something  of  real  substance:  "I  do  my  duty,"  he 
said;  "other  things  trouble  me  not."1 

'The  Philosophy  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  XII  i. 

#"The  Spoken  Word"  from  Temple  Square,  presented  over  KSL  and  the  Columbia 
Broadcasting  System  November  26,   1967.    Copyright  1967. 


will  come. 
This  is  the  hardest  part  of  all, 

For  they  will  merit  their  re- 
ward 

For   heeding   not   our  joyous 
word. 

But  where  are  those  of  Israel 
Who  search  to  find  the  upward 

path'? 
Where  shall  we  find,  those  chosen, 

few 
Who    seek    to    parry    Justice's 

wrath 
With  kindly,   golden,   selfless 

deeds 
To  satisfy  another's  needs  ? 

For  to  these  people  we  are  sent, 
But   they   are   hidden — hard   to 

find — 
And   we    more    often   speak    to 
those  - 


70 


Improvement  Era 


With  spirits  beaming,  good  and 
kind, 

Who  seek  not  for  a  better  way, 
But  close  their  minds  to  what 
iv e  say. 

Oh,  the  aching  in  my  heart! 
Oh,  the  agony  of  mind! — 
When  I  see  the  blinding  wall 
Before  these  people — good,  and, 
kind — 
Which  blocks  from  them  the 

glowing  vision 
They  could  see  if  they  would 
listen! 

If  only  I  could  give  to  them 
A  moment's  view  of  what  I  see! 
If  only  I  could  raise  in  them 
A  moment's  hope  that  they  could 
be 
A  being  on  a  higher  plane, 
With  glory  which  would  never 


wane  l 


The  Call 

By  Geary  R.  Younce 


But  I  remember  they  are  given 
Agency  with  which  to  choose 
Those   things  which  they  most 

want  to  have 
And  also  those  they  want  to  lose. 
For  to  each  person  it  is  given 
To  choose  the  role  he  ivants  in 
heaven. 


But  of  the  words  I  give  to  them, 
I  testify  as  to  their  truth. 
For  on  the  final  judgment  day 
I  want  to  stand  ivithout  reproof; 

That  I  may  hear  the  ivords, 
"Well  done! 

Come  thou  and  live  with  me, 


my  son. 


O 


Richard   L.   Evans 

The  Spoken  Word 


Humor  on  high  and  low  levels 


Humor  is  essential  to  a  full  and  happy  life.  It  is  a  reliever  and 
relaxer  of  pressure  and  tension,  and  the  saving  element  in  many 
situations.  But  there  are  different  kinds  of  humor,  prompted  by 
different  spirits,  some  sincere,  some  unacceptable.  There  is  delightful, 
wholesome  humor  that  heals  and  helps  the  spirit  and  gives  a  lift  to  life. 
There  is  giddy,  trivial  humor  that  produces  light-minded  laughter— the 
all-but-vacant  and  inconsequential  kind  that  comes  with  little  content, 
little  cause.  There  is  evil  humor,  grim  humor,  humor  that  embarrasses, 
and  humor  that  is  cruel,  unkind.  There  is  humor  that  is  unclean,  and 
that  has  no  place  among  considerate  people  or  in  decent  society.  There 
is  an  account  of  a  man  who  cautioned  a  speaker  against  telling  off-color 
stories,  because,  said  he,  "There  are  ladies  present"— to  which  someone 
added  the  observation  that  there  were  also  gentlemen  present.  The 
assumption  that  something  suggestive,  low-minded,  or  unclean  is  all 
right  in  one  kind  of  audience  but  not  in  another  is  a  questionable  assump- 
tion. Anything  filthy  or  basically  unclean  is  wrong  in  any  audience. 
One  of  the  frequent  and  unfortunate  mistakes  that  some  speakers  and 
performers  and  masters  of  ceremonies  make  is  assuming  that  they  should 
degrade  themselves  and  their  audience  with  suggestive,  unclean  stories- 
stories  that  are  filthier  than  they  are  funny,  to  the  embarrassment  of 
every  decent-minded  person.  Even  when  suggestive  and  unclean  humor 
gets  a  laugh,  it  is  more  likely  the  laugh  of  embarrassment,  rather  than  of 
genuine  amusement:  embarrassment  for  the  poor  judgment  of  him  who 
has  gone  so  far  as  to  forget  decency  and  good  taste;  for  him  who  goes 
below  the  level  of  what  is  clean,  to  what  is  supposedly  clever  even  if 
unclean.  We  lower  our  own  level  and  contribute  to  the  downpull  of 
young  and  impressionable  people  when  we  inject  unclean,  low-minded 
humor  into  any  part  of  any  proceedings,  in  public  or  in  private.  We 
may  well  be  grateful  for  the  man  of  clean  mind,  and  for  the  gift  and 
blessing  of  kindly,  wholesome  humor,  which  adds  a  wonderful  lift 
to  life. 

*'The  Spoken  Word"  from  TempleSquare,  presented  over  KSL  and  the  Columbia 
Broadcasting  System  November  12,  1967.    Copyright  1967. 


February  1968 


71 


The  LDS  Scene 


Guatemala  Seminary 

Brother  Alan  Baldizon  of  the  Guatemala  Stake  instructs 

youth  in  one  of  two  early  morning  seminary  classes 

organized   in  the  Guatemala  Stake.    Stake   President   Udine 

Falabella  teaches  the  other  class.     More  than 

40    LDS   youth   attended   classes   in    Book  of   Mormon 

this  past  year.    Greater  numbers  are  expected  in 

the  present  school  year,  which   began   in  January  and 

continues  until  October. 


Temple  Square  Lighting 

For  the  third  straight  year,  Temple  Square  was  aglow 

with    over    100,000   colorful    Christmas    lights,    which    drew 

large  crowds  of  visitors  during  the  Christmas  season. 

Thousands  of  tiny  globes  lit  up  every  limb,  branch,  and 

twig  in  a  wide  circle  of  wintering  sycamores,  maples, 

box  elders,  birches,  and  pines.     A  tableau  of  scenes  of 

the  Nativity  was  also  well  received  by  visitors,  as 

were  huge  reproductions  of  paintings  on  the  life  of  Christ, 

which  were  placed  near  the  center  walkway.     Inside 

the  Tabernacle,  performances  of  the  opera  "Amahl  and 

the  Night  Visitors"  were  presented  for  several  nights  to 

capacity  crowds.    Some  63  television   stations  throughout 

the  U.S.  carried  a  special  30-minute  color  presentation 

of  "Christmas  on  Temple  Square,"  which  featured 

the  lighting,  the  Nativity  display,  and  the  Tabernacle  Choir. 


Interstate  Commerce 
Commissioner 

Grant  E.  Syphers  has  been 
appointed  by  President 
Lyndon  B.  Johnson  as  a 
commissioner  on  the 
Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  Brother 
Syphers,  new  resident  of 
the  Fairfax  (Virginia)  Ward, 
formerly  resided  in  West 
Arcadia  (California)  Ward. 
The     Interstate     Commerce 
Commission,  oldest 
regulatory   commission    in 


U.S.    government,    regulates 
interstate  transportation 
and  commerce  in  the 
United  States. 


72 


Improvement  Era 


Polynesian  Center 
Director 

Lawrence  Haneberg  of 
Honolulu,    Hawaii,   has   been 
named  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the 
Church's  Polynesian  Cultural 
Center  in  Laie,  Hawaii. 
Brother  Haneberg,  formerly 
a  member  of  the  Honolulu 
Stake  presidency,  has  a 
strong  family  heritage 
in  Hawaii.    His  grandfather 
was  an  early  Hawaiian 
sugar  planter  and  co- 
founder  of  Clorox  Chemical 
'Company.  Brother  Hane- 
berg  will    coordinate 
management  of  the  six 
authentic  villages — Hawaiian, 
Tongan,  Samoan,  Maori, 
Tahitian,  and  Fijian — 
that  make  up  the  famed 
tourist  center. 


Distinguished  Service 
Award 

LeRoy  R.  Stevens,  president 
of  Stevens  Henager  Business 
College  and   member  of 
the   Monument  Park  (Salt 
Lake  City)   15th  Ward,   has 
received  the  distinguished 
service  award  of  the 
United  Business  Schools 
Association.    The  association 
has  a   membership  of 
more  than   500  schools   in 


Educational 
Post 

Dr.   Earl  C.   Crockett, 
academic  vice-president   of 
Brigham  Young  University, 
has  been  reelected 
chairman  of  the  high  com- 
mission of  the  Northwest 
Association  of  Secondary  and 
Higher  Schools  for  two 
additional  years.   It  is  only 
the  second  time  in  the 
organization's  history  that 
a  chairman  has  been 
reelected.   The  association  is 
the  official  accrediting 
agency  for  universities, 
colleges,  and  high  schools 
in  Montana,  Utah,  Idaho, 
Washington,  Oregon,  Nevada, 
and  Alaska.  In  1964, 
Dr.  Crockett  served  as  acting 
president  of  Brigham 
Young  University. 


BY  High  School  to  Close 

After  92  years  of  service,  the  Brigham  Young  High 

and   Elementary  School  will   discontinue  operation   at  the 

end  of  the  current  1968  school  year.    Originally  a 

part  of  Brigham  Young  Academy,  the  school  had  as  its 

purpose  the  training  of  student  teachers.    However, 

increasing   numbers   of  students   in   education   have   long 

required  the  placement  of  BYU  student-teachers  in 

districts  throughout   Utah   and   surrounding  states. 

BY  High  students,  in  the  center  hallway 

between  classes,  swarm  in  front  of  a  trophy  case  loaded 

with  evidence  of  their  triumphs  over  the  years. 


North  and  South  America, 
representing  enrollment  of 
over  200,000  students. 


Sao  Paulo  Exhibit 

Bishop  Helio  da  Rocha  Camargo  of  the  Sao  Paulo  (Brazil) 
Second  Ward  explains  the  importance  of  religion  to 
Jose  de  Almeida  Leite,  head  of  Sao  Paulo's  department 
of  culture  and  education,  at  the  opening  of  the 
Brazilian   Mission's   pavilion   at  the   Lapa   Municipal   Library. 
At  the  request  of  officials,  the  exhibit  was  shown  in  all 
13  of  Sao  Paulo's  municipal  libraries.  Much  praise  was 
received  for  the  exhibit's  high  quality  and  its  message 
of  love  and  peace. 


February  1968 


73 


The  Church  A/loves  On 


Richard   L.   Evans 

The  Spoken  Word 


Thanks:  for  the  organization  and 
operation  of  the  earth 


In  considering  things  to  be  thankful  for,  there  is  this  we  often  take  for 
granted:  the  organization  and  operation  of  the  earth.  "What  would 
this  life  of  ours  be  like,"  asked  one  writer,  "if  Chance  ruled  our 
destinies?  If,  for  instance— Autumn  might  or  might  not  succeed  Sum- 
mer, Spring  might  or  might  not  follow  Winter.  A  weary  world  that 
would  truly  be  .  .  .  left  to  the  buffeting  of  an  unknown  yet  all-pervading 
caprice."1  What  if  there  were  no  air  of  the  right  kind  in  the  right 
quantity,  renewing  itself  for  our  sustenance;  or  water,  which  we  some- 
times thoughtlessly  pollute  or  waste  away;  or  heat  and  cold  within  the 
right  range;  or  soil  and  all  the  processes  by  which  it  produces;  the  sun, 
the  seasons,  the  renewal  of  spring,  the  growing  of  summer,  the  harvest 
of  autumn,  the  dormancy  of  winter,  the  endless  products  and  provi- 
dence of  the  mountains,  the  sea,  the  fields,  the  forests.  "Why  should 
they  be  a  matter  of  course?  What  have  I,  or  you,  what  has  any  man 
done  that  earth  should  glow  with  beauty,  .  .  .  should  hang  .  .  .  fruit  upon 
the  bending  boughs  .  .  .  ?  Surely  ...  we  might  ...  be  ready  with  thank- 
ful recognition  of  a  bounty  that  .  .  .  has  gone  on  supplying  [man's]  needs 
through  the  .  .  .  ages  of  the  past,  and  supplies  them  still."1  And  not  only 
for  the  physical  organization  of  the  earth,  but  for  loved  ones,  for  life — 
the  purpose,  the  mystery,  the  miracle  of  it,  the  birth  of  a  babe,  which 
gives  added  reason  for  the  reality  of  eternal  continuance,  the  renewal 
of  resurrection;  for  it  is  no  greater  miracle  to  have  life  everlasting  than 
to  have  life  here  and  now.  And  so,  gratefully  we  acknowledge  the 
infinite  mind  of  our  Maker,  and  gratefully  ought  to  offer  our  tithes 
and  offerings,  and  earnestly  consistent  service,  in  thanks  for  all  that 
God  has  given,  and  keep  his  commandments  in  remembrance  of  the 
love  and  providence  and  purpose  of  the  Creator,  the  God  and  Father 
of  us  all,  the  organizer  and  operator  of  heaven  and  earth,  without  whom 
all  these  things  would  not  be  so.  Thank  God  for  all  this:  for  life  and 
what  sustains  it,  for  loved  ones  that  make  it  meaningful,  for  faith  and 
purpose  and  continuance,  always  and  forever.  Thank  God  for  all  of 
this— and  much,  much  more. 

1"The  Thankful  Month,"  Lewis's  Magazine, 

*  "The  Spoken  Word"  from  Temple  Square,  presented  over  KSL  and  the  Columbia 
Broadcasting  System  November  19,  1967.    Copyright  1967. 


November  1967 

(_New  stake   presidencies:   President 
William   P.   Barnes  and   counselors 
Reed  M.  Nielsen  and  Howard  E.  Gibson 
in  the  Lost  River  (Idaho)  Stake;  Presi- 
dent Richard  L.  Warner  and  counselors 
Richard    J.    Marshall    and    Graham    W. 
Doxey  in  the  University  First  (Salt  Lake 
City)  Stake;  President  Douglas  J.  Mar- 
tin and  counselors  C.  Sydney  Shepherd 
and  Albert  M.  Kewene  in  Hamilton  (New 
Zealand)  Stake. 

Hamilton  South  (New  Zealand)  Stake 
was  organized  from  parts  of  Hamilton 
Stake  by  Elder  Thomas  S.  Monson  of 
the  Council  of  the  Twelve  and  Presi- 
dent Paul  H.  Dunn  of  the  First  Council 
of  the  Seventy.  Sustained  as  president 
was  Harry  S.  Peckham,  with  Larry  R. 
Oler  and  Raymond  W.  Ritchie  as  coun- 
selors. This  is  the  445th  stake  now 
functioning. 

[Elder  Chris  Russell  Sampson,  20, 
serving  in  the  Florida  Mission,  was 
killed  in  an  automobile  accident  at  West 
Palm  Beach,  Florida.  His  home  was 
Apple  Gate,  California.  His  companion, 
Elder  Steven  Thomas  Olsen  of  Monroe, 
Utah,  was  injured  in  the  same  mishap. 
His  injuries  are  not  considered  serious. 

Texas  North  Stake  was  organized 
by  Elder  Richard  L.  Evans  of  the 
Council  of  the  Twelve  and  Elder  Ber- 
nard P.  Brockbank,  Assistant  to  the 
Twelve.  Sustained  were  President 
Franklin  S.  Gonzalez  and  counselors 
John  M.  Anderson  and  Milton  L.  Pierce. 
This  is  the  446th  stake  now  functioning. 

A  collection  of  Egyptian  papyri, 
once  owned  by  the  Prophet  Joseph 
Smith,  was  given  to  the  Church  by  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  in  New 
York  City.  (See  the  January  Era.) 

Perth  (Australia)  Stake,  447th  now 
i functioning,  was  organized  under 
the  direction  of  Elder  Thomas  S.  Mon- 
son of  the  Council  of  the  Twelve  and 
Bishop     Robert     L.     Simpson     of    the 


74 


Improvement  Era 


Presiding  Bishopric.  Donald  W.  Cum- 
mings  was  sustained  as  president,  with 
Leslie  E.  Williams  and  Derek  A.  Edwards 
as  counselors. 


December  1967 

New  stake  presidencies:  President 
Robert  W.  Barker  and  counselors 
June  B.  Thane  and  Wendell  G.  Eames, 
Washington  (D.C.)  Stake;  President 
Richard  P.  Shumway  and  counselors 
Arden  L.  Rowley  and  Dean  B.  Farns- 
worth,  Orem  West  (Utah)  Stake;  Presi- 
dent Stephen  L  Van  Wagener  and 
counselors  Dean  O.  Peck  and  Samuel 
L.  Hamilton,  North  Sacramento  (Cali- 
fornia) Stake;  President  Clive  V.  Tenney 
and  counselors  E  Craig  Harper  and 
Joseph  C.  Price,  San  Diego  (California) 
East  Stake. 

Multi-colored  lights — more  than 
100,000  of  them — were  turned  on 
at  Temple  Square  this  evening,  high- 
lighting other  decorations  and  scenes 
on  Temple  Square,  all  heralding  the 
coming  Christmas  season. 


Simi  Stake,  named  for  a  ward  and 


the  Council  of  the  Twelve  and  Elder 
Sterling  W.  Sill,  Assistant  to  the  Twelve. 
It  was  taken  from  the  Reseda  and 
Canoga  Park  stakes,  and  is  the  448th 
stake  now  functioning.  Sustained  were 
President  John  Lyman  Ballif  and  coun- 
selors Lloyd  S.  Moffit  and  Noal  T. 
Greenwood. 

New  stake  presidencies:  President 
Dennis  K.  Myers  and  counselors  Reed 
V.  Langlois  and  Grant  V.  Bunderson  in 
the  San  Diego  South  (California)  Stake; 
President  Robert  D.  Orme  and  coun- 
selors Horace  E.  Hess  and  Vincent  A. 
Birch  in  the  Yellowstone  (Idaho)  Stake. 

The    Salt    Lake    Tabernacle    Choir 
presented  its  2,000th  weekly  radio 
network  program. 

President  David  0.  McKay  attended 
the  annual  Christmas  meeting  of 
General  Authorities  and  employees  of 
the  Church  Administration  Building. 
The  meeting  also  honored  the  birth  of 
the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith.  The  Presi- 
dent's message  was  read  by  a  son, 
General  Superintendent  David  Law- 
rence McKay  of  the  Sunday  Schools. 


A  total  of  63  television  stations 
a  geographical  location  in  Cali-  LAI  are  carrying  a  special  30-minute 
fornia,  was  organized  under  the  direc-  color  presentation  of  "Christmas  on 
tion    of    Elder    Howard    W.    Hunter    of      Temple  Square"  this  year. 


A  Warning 

By  Kenneth 
W.  G.  Catran 


On  Cumorah's  crest,  the  Prophet  lay, 
bathed  red  in  the  set  of  a  fatal  day. 
Great  Mormon  raised  his  hand  and  cried, 
"This  day  a  faithless  people  died. 

"Once  proud  and  fair,  a  joy  to  behold, 
with  cities  of  stone,  and  spires  of  gold. 
Alas!  They  forsook  their  Christian  zeal 
and  now  lie  dead  'neath  a  heathen  heel. 

"A  savage  stalks  the  fruitful  land 
with  flaming  torch  in  upraised  hand. 
But  'twas  not  him  with  his  painted  face 
that  spelt  thy  doom,  O  wayward  race. 

"A  Tower  of  Babel  toithin  the  mind 
brought  to  an  end  my  Nephite  kind. 
They  would  not  heed  their  God  on  high 
and  so  are  sprawled  'neath  a  darkening  sky.' 


February  1968 


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75 


Buffs 

and 

Rebuffs 


LDS  Congressmen 

In  October  and  November  you  ran  the 
viewpoints  of  LDS  congressmen.  Per- 
sonally, we  have  nothing  against  this.  We 
like  to  know  which  Church  members  are 
serving  in  Congress,  and  what  their  views 
are.  However,  recently  we  have  heard 
speakers  in  Church  using  quotations 
from  these  congressmen,  and  indicating 
that  these  quotations  represent  the 
Church's  stand  on  certain  issues.  For 
instance,  we  know  from  study  that  the 
population  explosion  is  not  the  worst 
problem  we  have.  Rather,  Communism 
is  our  worst  problem.  We  know  that  the 
purpose  of  the  articles  was  good,  but 
some   people   take   for   granted   that   be- 


cause these  men  belong  to  the  Church, 
what  they  say  is  Church  policy. 

Brother  and  Sister  Savage 
Cottage  Grove,  Oregon 

Congressmen  —  even  members  of  the 
Church  —  are  official  representatives  of 
their  constituents  and  themselves  only, 
and  not  of  the  Church.  Their  viewpoints 
were  clearly  labeled  personal,  and  as  such 
were  published  for  the  interest  and  stimu- 
lation of  Era  readers. 

Two  and  a  Half  Years  Later 

In  a  belated  reading  of  "Neither  Purse 
nor  Sword"  (August  1965)  by  Dr.  G. 
Homer  Durham,  concerning  the  U.S.  Su- 
preme Court,  I  could  not  disagree  with 
it  more.  I  believe  that  this  idea  of  five 
men  out  of  nine  being  able  to  flout  the 
plain  intent  of  the  legislators  is  going  to 
be  the  ruin  of  our  constitutional  republic 
if  it  is  not  curbed. 

These  officials  are  sworn  to  "protect, 
uphold,  and  defend"  the  Constitution. 
Also,  the  comparison  of  the  evolution  of 
the  body  of  the  law  in  Rome  and  Britain 
with  the  U.S.  is  not  valid  because  the 
former  two  did  not  have  a  rigid,  written 
constitution.     True,  we  drew  heavily  on 


thousands  of  years  of  western  civilization 
in  writing  the  U.S.  Constitution,  but  once 
written  and  adopted,  it  was  not  to  be 
changed  by  other  than  the  means  pro- 
vided. 

I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  our 
Constitution  is  a  divine  document,  writ- 
ten by  men  raised  up  by  God  for  that 
very  purpose. 

William  H.  Edwards 
Phoenix,  Arizona 

"Morals  and  Politics  .  .  ." 

The  column  "Morals  and  Politics  in  In- 
ternational Life"  ( November )  appears 
to  me  to  be  out  of  harmony  both  with 
the  scriptures  and  with  the  repeated  ad- 
montions  of  our  modern  prophets.      , 

Had  the  philosophy  of  separating  mo- 
rality from  politics  been  observed,  I  feel 
sure  we  would  never  have  had  our 
Declaration  of  Independence  or  our  Con- 
stitution. 

If  the  philosophy  of  the  article  were 
projected,  it  would  appear  that  we  should 
surrender  to  the  Communists  once  they 
were  demonstrably  superior  to  us  from  a 
military  standpoint.  I  think  we  should 
die  first! 

W.  Vaughn  Ellsworth 
Mesa,  Arizona 


Rulon  H.  Cheney 

Vice-President 
382-2875 


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Regardless  of  where  you  own  cemetery 
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76 


Improvement  Era 


We  Won't  Strike 

May  I  express  my  thanks  to  all  concerned 
with  the  publication  of  the  Era.  From  this 
wonderful  magazine  I  get  quite  a  kick.  I 
love  to  read  about  the  true  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Since  being  introduced  to 
the  Church  by  my  son  Peter,  my  home 
has  now  been  transformed  into  a  happy 
one.  No  words  can  really  express  the 
wonderful  work  the  young  elders  do 
here.  The  hard  work  and  sincerity  of 
these  boys  is  very  moving. 

Sometime  back  I  felt  that  I  was  re- 
jected not  only  by  my  family  but  by 
everyone  with  whom  I  came  into  con- 
tact. Now  I  look  back  on  those  years 
and  say  to  myself,  "What  a  waste  of 
years."  I  am  still  alone  but  not  lonely. 
The  love  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  health, 
happiness,  and  the  blessings  of  God  are 
worth  more  than  money. 

May  I  offer  my  thanks  to  everyone  con- 
cerned with  the  Era.  I  have  no  com- 
plaints about  it.  But  please  don't  you 
get  the  strike  bug.  (In  our  community  a 
big  strike  is  going  on.)  I  can't  help 
wondering  what  would  happen  if  our 
Heavenly  Father  were  to  go  on  strike. 
Mrs.  Rosemary  Morris 
Leamington,  Pennsylvania 

Stayed  Up  All  Night 

Perhaps  you  would  like  to  know  that 
one  of  our  investigators  stayed  up  all 
night  to  read  the  Eras  we  loaned  her. 
Now  that  she  is  a  member  of  the  Church, 
she  is  passing  them  on  to  her  friends  to 
enjoy. 

Elder  Jerry  L.  Blackburn 
New  Town 
Tasmania,  Australia 

Life  Among  the  Mormons 

The  poetic  series  "Life  Among  the  Mor- 
mons" in  the  "End  of  an  Era"  has  been 
outstanding  in  its  frankness,  good  humor, 
and  incisive  truth  and  accuracy.  I  find 
it  much  in  the  tradition  of  some  of  the 
folk  songs,  like  "Once  I  lived  in  Cotton- 
wood," in  which  the  nineteenth  century 
Latter-day  Saint  pioneer  didn't  hesitate 
to  satirize  the  foibles  of  those  both  low 
and  high.  After  all,  though  the  gospel 
is  perfect,  no  single  one  of  us  is. 

Robert  W.  Donigan 
Logan,  Utah 

Compartmentalized  Saint 

I  would  like  to  tell  you  how  much  I,  and 
many  more  with  me  in  our  ward,  liked 
the  two-part  article  "Parable  of  the  Com- 
partmentalized Saint"  ( September-Octo- 
ber). In  reading  the  part  about  exposing 
the  body  in  beauty  contests,  and  in  read- 
ing the  Prophet's  thoughts  on  the  subject, 
it  came  to  my  mind  that  there  are  various 
publications  about  our  Church  written 
by  respected  members,  and  some  of  these 
publications  even  carry  favorable  articles 
and  photographs  of  beauty  queens  who 
are  LDS.  Does  this  agree  with  Church 
principles  and  standards?  Would  these 
things  not  have  been  better  left  out? 

Bob  deBoer 
Scarborough 
Ontario,  Canada 


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February  1968 


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78 


•  Morals  constitute  the  concern 
for  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong. 
"Low"  morals  in  common  talk 
refer  to  standards  or  conduct  on 
one  end  of  the  scale.  "High  moral 
standards"  generally  mean  that 
things  or  conduct  are  on  the  right 
side.  Ordinary  people  usually  say 
a  thing  is  good  or  bad.  Public 
figures,  politicians,  teachers, 
preachers,  executive  speechmak- 
ers,  however,  usually  talk  about 
"morals." 

For  some  time  we  have  been 
hearing  about  "the  crisis  in 
morality,"  or  "the  new  morality," 
or  "moral  stagnation,"  and  so 
forth.  Generally  speaking,  in  the 
public  domain,  the  meanings  of 
such  terms  go  undefined.  But  the 
implication  runs  to  the  point  that 
things  are  pretty  bad  and  about 
to  get  worse.  It  has  gone  this  way 
throughout  history.  Moral  concern 
goes  with  the  facts  and  acts  of 
living. 

The  moral  teachings  of  Jesus, 
as  disclosed  in  the  Four  Gospels, 
set  forth  the  highest  standards  of 
individual  and  social  conduct,  to- 
gether with  the  greatest  sense  of 
compassion     and     understanding 


By  Dr.  G.  Homer 
Durham 

President, 
Arizona  State  University 


(together  with  forgiveness)  of 
human  frailty.  His  words,  "Neither 
do  I  condemn  thee:  go,  and  sin 
no  more"  (John  8:11),  afford 
comfort.  Few,  aside  from  Jesus, 
ever  utter  them.  Nor  are  prayers 
often  heard  for  "them  which  de- 
spitefully  use  you."  (Matt.  5:44.) 
Nor  is  love  displayed  toward  ene- 
mies. The  Gospels  tell  us  that 
moral  conduct,  right  or  wrong,  is 
a  matter  of  attitude — of  the  heart, 
mind,  and  spirit,  as  well  as  the 
physical  performance  of  the  hand, 
foot,  or  body;  that  in  order  to  keep 
ourselves  in  a  state  of  grace,  it 
helps  to  be  forgiving  and  merciful 
to  others,  as  a  means  of  disciplin- 
ing our  own  feelings,  conduct,  and 
expressions. 

This  leads  to  one  thought  as  to 
what  may  be  wrong  in  the  present 
world.  It  is  that  hardly  anyone 
takes  time  to  read  what  Jesus 
himself  said  and  did.  He  continues 
to  be,  in  Bruce  Barton's  words,  the 
man  nobody  knows.  If  this  wrong 
could  be  righted,  some  of  the 
other  things,  more  often  talked 
about,  would  improve. 

Custom,  habit,  and  tradition 
are    more     influential    than    the 


Improvement  Era 


"source  material"  found  in  the 
Four  Gospels.  Despite  the  rise  of 
literacy  and  education,  and  the 
physical  presence  of  the  Bible, 
our  moral  standards  have  been 
more  firmly  shaped  by  the  onward 
sweep  of  custom  and  tradition  in 
civilization.  Much  of  the  energy 
expended  to  uphold  rightness  or 
deter  wrongness  is  aimed  at 
superficialities  rather  than  basic 
human  attitudes.  For  example, 
long  hair,  beards,  and  sandals  are 
not  in  themselves  wrong.  Indeed, 
they  were  badges  of  respectability 
not  so  long  ago.  Nor  is  a  neat, 
well-groomed  look  always  the 
badge  of  moral  virtue.  Appear- 
ances are  often  deceiving.  But  the 
minds  of  men  tend  to  see  things 
in  stereotype. 

An  age  that  hears  outcries 
against  statism,  regimentation, 
the  evils  of  conformity,  and  the 
virtues  of  individualism,  tends  to 
shudder  at  the  least  expression  of 
individuality  and  individual  dif- 
ference. Birds  of  a  feather  flock 
together.  Any  others  tend  to  be 
ugly  ducklings.  A  small  town, 
composed  of  single-minded,  pro- 
fessed Christians,  makes  it  diffi- 
cult for  those  of  a  different  sect 
when  the  new  factory  brings 
"strangers"  to  town.  The  message 
written  large  in  the  Four  Gospels 
goes  unheeded.  Fear  of  the  un- 
known pervades  the  atmosphere 
until  replaced  by  warm  knowledge 
developed  by  cool  minds. 

There  is  breakdown  of  law  and 
order.  Crimes  of  violence  are  on 
the  increase.  People  are  on  the 
increase.  The  moral  crisis  moves 
ever  onward,  upward,  and  down- 
ward. But  the  lessons  basic  to  the 
heart  of  the  matter  are  rarely 
heard.  Checks  are  written  for  the 
United  Fund.  Headlines  about  the 
latest  atrocity  are  read.  But  who 
has  actually  read  the  parables  of 
the  Good  Samaritan  or  the  Prodi- 
gal Son  recently?  And  practiced 
or  applied  them? 


But,  be  of  good  cheer.  Help 
exists — and  is  available.  God  has 
made  man  in  such  notable  fashion 
that  he  may  stumble  through  life 
without  taking  too  much  conscious 
advantage  of  the  New  Testament. 
Help  comes  in  a  volume  called  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  wherein  a  good 
parent-teacher  named  Lehi  dis- 
closed to  his  son  Jacob  that  "men 
are  instructed  sufficiently  that 
they  know  good  from  evil,"  and 
that  redemption  "cometh  in  and 
through  the  Holy  Messiah;  for  he 
is  full  of  grace  and  truth.  Behold, 
he  offereth  himself  a  sacrifice  for 
sin,  to  answer  the  ends  of  the  law, 
unto  all  those  who  have  a  broken 
heart  and  a  contrite  spirit;  and 
unto  none  else  can  the  ends  of  the 
law  be  answered."  (2  Ne.  2:5-7.) 

Now,  life  has  a  way  of  bringing 
about  broken  hearts  and  contrite 
spirits.  Thus,  given  man's  moral 
nature  and  life's  experiences,  the 
outlook  is  really  hopeful!  For,  as 
the  Book  of  Mormon  teacher 
pointed  out  further  to  his  son, 
"men  are,  that  they  might  have 
joy."  (2  Ne.  2:25.) 

In  conclusion,  it  may  well  be 
important  to  remark  that  the  ethic 
of  "joy"  introduced  something 
quite  novel  into  the  Calvinist  sys- 
tem of  morals,  wherein  the  doc- 
trine was  announced  in  1830  A.D. 
Men  were  supposed  to  be  con- 
ceived in  sin,  to  be  born  in  sin, 
to  live  in  sin,  and  to  die  as  worms; 
not  eternal  souls,  born  with  moral 
sense  ("instructed  sufficiently"), 
endowed  with  creative  power, 
questing  for  knowledge  and  intel- 
ligence in  order  to  surmount 
existing  arrangements,  moving 
toward  progress. 

Well,  things  seem  pretty  bad 
sometimes.  But  there  is  comfort 
in  some  of  these  things  in  these 
times.  Remember  the  key  thought: 
Morals  and  moral  concerns  have 
for  their  purpose  not  misery,  but 
joy!  It  will  help  if  more  of  us  act 
as  if  we  really  believe  it.  o 


February  1968 


ATTENTION, 

CHOIR 

CONDUCTORS! 

Suggested  LDS  Choir  Anthems 

Abide  With  Me,  'Tis  Eventide 

Gates 

M 

All  Glory,  Laud  and   Honor 

Schreiner 

M 

All  in  the  April  Evening 

Robertson 

M 

America  the   Beautiful 

Asper 

M 

Awake!    Arise! 

Stickles 

E 

Beautiful  Zion  for  Me 

Daynes 

E 

Bless  Ye  the  Lord 

Ivanoff 

E 

Brother   James    Air 

Jacob 

M 

Come,  Come  Ye  Saints 

Robertson 

D 

Come,  Come  Ye  Saints 

Cornwall 

M 

For  the   Beauty  of  the  Earth 

Davis 

M 

Glory  to   God 

Kessel 

M 

God  is  Holy 

Eberlein 

M 

God  So  Loved  the  World 

Stainer 

E 

Gospel    Gives    Unbounded 
Strength,  The 

Schreiner 

E 

Gospel   Is  Truly  the   Power 
of  God 

Schreiner 

M 

He  Watching    Over   Israel 

Mendelssohn 

M 

Here   in   This   House 

Howorth 

M 

Holy  City 

Arnold 

MD 

How  Beautiful  Upon  the 

Mountains 

Harker 

MD 

I  Shall   Not  Pass  Again 
This  Way 

Effinger 

E 

If  Ye  Love  Me,    Keep   My 
Commandments 

Carlbon 

M 

In  My  Father's   House 

MacDermid 

M 

Jerusalem,   0  Turn  Thee 

Gounod 

M 

Jesus,  Name  of  Wondrous  Love 

Titcomb 

M 

King   of  Love   My   Shepherd   Is 

Shelley 

D 

Let  Not  Your  Heart  Be 
Troubled 

Foster 

M 

Let  Us  Oft  Speak  Kind  Words 

Gates 

E 

Lo,   My  Shepherd  Is  Divine 

Haydn 

MD 

Lo,   What  a  Beauteous   Rose 

Praetorius 

M 

Lord  Bless  You  and  Keep  You 

Lutkin 

E 

Lord   Is  a   Mighty   God,   The 

Mendelssohn 

M 

Lord   Hear  Our  Prayer 

Verdi 

MD 

Lord  Is  My  Shepherd,  The 

Richards 

M 

Lord's  Prayer 

Gates 

M 

Lord's  Prayer 

Robertson 

MD 

May  Now  Thy  Spirit 

Trehorne 

M 

My   Redeemer  Lives 

Gates 

M 

Now  Let  the    Heavens   Be 
Joyful 

Chambers 

M 

Now  Thank  We  All  Our  God 

Holler 

E 

Now  Thank  We  All   Our   God 

Bach 

M 

0  Brother  Man 

Robertson 

M 

0  Cast  Thy  Burden  Upon 
the    Lord 

Aulbach 

E 

0  Come,   Let  Us  Worship 

Mendelssohn 

M 

0   God,   Our   Help   in   Ages 
Past 

Cornwall 

M 

0    Lofty  Mountains 

Cannon 

M 

6   Loving  Savior,    Slain  for   Us 

Auber 

M 

0  Worship  the  King 

Cornwall 

M 

Onward  Ye  People 

Sibelius 

M 

Open  Our  Eyes 

Macfarlane 

D 

Open  the  Gates 

Jenkins 

M 

Poor  Wayfaring  Man  of  Grief 

Durham 

M 

Son  of   Man 

Robertson 

M 

Spirit  of  God 

Neidlinger 

M 

Still,  Still  With  Thee 

Shelley 

M 

Thanks  to  Thee,  0  Lord 

Handel 

M 

That  Blessed  Easter  Morn 

Caldwell 

E 

Verdant  Meadows 

Handel 

M 

We  Are  Watchmen 

Schreiner 

MD 

With  a  Voice   of   Singing 

Shaw 

M 

The  Letters  E,  M,  MD  and 
medium,   medium  difficult, 

D  indicate  easy, 
and  difficult. 

Average  Price  is  25c  to  30c 

Ora   Pate   Stewart's              Wj 

ftftyr/v 

} 

"To  a  Child"                   %f4 

rtUUCif  % 

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Solo  or  Trio                    ^^ 

Music  Co 

50c  each 

IDAHO 

P.  O-  Box  2009 
FALLS,    IDAHO  83401 

79 


End  of  an  Era 


The  assignment  was  written 

on  the  seminary 

classroom  blackboard:    "Why  do 

we  need  a  Church?" 

All  of  the  students  began  to 

write  busily  except  one. 

He  wrote  a   few  words,   then 

turned  to  his  mathematics 

book.    The  teacher, 

his  temperature  rising  with  each 

step,  marched  back  to 

him,  his  red  pencil  poised  to 

mark    1VF"    on   the 

paper.     Then  he  saw  what  the 

boy  had  written:  'To  keep 

the  GO  in  the  GOspel." 

— Mrs.  John  S.  Kelley, 

Boise,  Idaho 


A  scientist  rushed  into  the 
control  room  of  the  missile  center 
and  announced  a  new 
discovery.  "Gentlemen,"  he 
shouted,  "there  are  women 
on  the  moon.  We  just  shot  up 
a  communication  rocket  and 
got  a  busy  signal!" 


We  have  no  excuse  to  err  in 

our  knowledge  and  understanding 

of  right  and  wrong, 

because  God  has  marked  out 

the  path,  the  straight 

and  narrow  way  that  leads  to  life 

eternal. — Elder  Delbert  L. 

Stapley 


My  son  Robert,  as  a  child, 

had  a  slight  speech  impediment  that 

he  was  quite  sensitive 

about.    When  he  was  in  the 

fourth  grade,  his  teacher  told  the 

class  that  Utah  was  settled  by 

pioneers  who  came,  for 

the  most  part,  from  foreign  countries. 

Then  she  told  them 

to  ask  their  parents  about  the 

nationalities  of  their  forefathers. 

When  I   told  Robert  his 

ancestors    were    Danish,    German, 

English,  Scotch,  and 

Spanish,  his  face  lit  up.    ''Well!" 

he    exclaimed.    "No    wonder    I    can't 

talk  plain!" — Mrs.  Martha  H. 

Burton,  Layton,  Utah 


Can't  Lose 
By  Elizabeth  Whitney 

//  I  have  an  umbrella 
That's  pretty  and  new 
And  leave  it  somewhere, 
The  result  is  "adieu." 

If  I  leave  this  umbrella, 
Well  in  its  decline, 
Someone's  sure  to  come 

running 
And  ask  if  it's  mine! 


Lawyer — "You  say  that 

you  were  about  35  feet  from  the 

scene  of  the  crime  and 

yet  you  can  identify  the  defendant? 

Just  how  far  can  you  see 

clearly?"    Witness:  "Well,  when 

I  wake  up  in  the 

morning  I  can  see  the  sun, 

and  they  tell  me  that's 

93  million  miles  away!" 

The  best  way  I  know  of 

to  win  an  argument  is  to  start 

by  being  in  the  right. 

— Lord  Hailsham 


A  politician  thinks  of  the 
next  election;  a  statesman  of 
the  next  generation. 
— James  Freeman  Clarke, 
American  clergyman 


Oh,  if  it  be  to  choose  and  call 

thee  mine, 

Love,  thou  art  every  day  my 

Valentine! 

—Thomas  Hood,  "For  the 

Fourteenth  of  February" 


"End  of  an  Era"  will  pay  $3  for  humorous  anecdotes  and  experiences   relating  to  Latter-day  Saint  way  of  life.  Maximum  length  150  words. 


80 


Improvement  Era 


RICKS    COLLEGE 

An  outstanding  two-year  college  owned  and  operated 
by  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints 


Each  student  is  special  at  Ricks  College 


Classes  are  small  at  Ricks  College.     Close 
personal  relationships tielween  professor  an 
student  are  the  way  of  life.     It's  a  way  of  life 

titude  of  friendliness  and 
inspired  by  the  common 
It  precipitates  a  wonder- 
by  student  and  faculty, 


dominated  by  an  a 
concern  for  others 
bond  of  the  gospel, 
ful  feeling,  shared 


that  is  fondly  called  "The  Spirit  of  Ricks." 


The  "spirit"  is  contagious.  It  begins  wit 
the  friendly  hi's  and  smiles  that  greet  6ach 
student  as  he  enters  Ricks.  It  is  amplified 
by  choice  new  friendships  found  in  shared- 
apartments,  classes,  and  extra-curricular 
activities.  It  swells  wijth  pride  in  the  great 
new  campus  (fifteen  ijpajor  buildings  since 
1962,  and  a  modern  fieldhouse  currently  un- 
der construction).  It  i$  climaxed  by  unique 
experiences  in  social  activities,  leadership, 
and  spirituality  provided  by  the  stu 
wards  of  the  Ricks  College  Stake. 


Admission  Requirements 

1.  --Graduate  from  an  accredited  high  school. 

2.  Take  the  American  College  Test  (A.C.T.). 

3.  Arrange  forxtiousing. 

4.  All  students  are, welcome,  and  those  who 
enroll  are  expected  to  maintain  standards 
consistent  with  the  ideals  of  The  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints. 

jt  does  it  cost  to  attend  Ricks  College? 

Tuition  (yearly)  LDS      |         $    350.00 

(inon-LDS  —  $400^00) 
Board  and  Room  (est.)  750.00 

"Books  and  Supplies  (est.)  100.00 


$1,200.00  (est.) 


It  is  enhanced  by  the  small  classes  thro 
which  a  superior  faculty  cares  for  the  indi- 
vidual needs  of  thei  students.     Each  student 
is  special  at  Ricks  College. 

Registration  Datel 


Ricks  C 


Application  dates  tp^femember 

Scholarship  DeadJifie     —     April    10 
Admission  Deadline      —     April   15 

You  need  to  apply  early  for  housing.  Beauti- 
ful new  residence  halls  for  both  boys  and 
girls  on  and  of\  campus  provide  modern 
apartment-style  living. 

For  housing  information  write: 

Housing,     Ricks    College^     Rexburg,     Idaho 

83440.    Remember,  you  must  apply  early. 


August  21,  22,  23 


bum,  Idaho  83440 


Where  "Hi"  is  the  password! 


The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints 


Second  Class  Postage  Paid 
at  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 


It  all  adds  up 
to  your 

Beneficial  Life 

man! 


His  heart  is  in  his  work  .  .  . 
he  knows  what  insurance  can 
mean  to  a  family's  financial 
security.  He  knows  people 
buy  insurance  because  they 
love  someone. 


His  legs  are  on  the  go  con- 
stantly, selling  and  servicing 
Beneficial  Life  .  .  .  bringing 
the  beneficial  life  to  thousands 
more.  He  is  tireless  in  bring- 
ing you  the  best  insurance 
you  can  buy. 


His  mind  is  stocked  with  the 
latest  insurance  know-how  . . . 
and  he's  trained  to  apply  these 
facts  and  figures  to  your 
family's  financial  needs. 


His  hands  help  lighten  the 
burden  of  the  family  head 
by  providing  insurance 
tailored  to  specific  needs. 


Resolve  to  get  to  know  your 
Beneficial  Life  agent  in 
the  coming  year! 


BENEFICIAL  LIFE 


Virgil  H.  Smith,  Pres. 


Salt  Lake  City,  Utah